Our Journey to Linda

RIP Amber

2011-12-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

I am very sad to blog this but I know we have friends that new Amber very well. Today we had to put Amber to sleep. Since April she has gone blind, lost her sense of smell and starting to loose her hearing. She was often confused about where she was and how to get to places. But even through that she would still wag her tail when we pet her and would eat like a pig.

Amber was a great dog. She loved to go to Lake Havasu and chase bunnies. She caught a bird once. That was not pretty. Bill lost a toe nail over that.

Bill took her this morning. When he came home he told Linda and I that she was at peace. He could tell that Amber knew what was going on and was very relaxed in his arms.

We miss her so much already. But I know she is in a good place with her dog friends, Princess and Annie and she is looking over us and still barking at strangers from up above.

God bless Amber!

5 Years!

2011-09-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today we had a wonderful addition to our family. It is still emotional to think about it, and I am not one for emotions. ;-) How time flies. How fast our little ones grow up. Five years! Let's compare:

Taken yesterday, 9/17/11 at baseball game

Padre Family Day, 2007

We love Linda so much. She is fun, intelligent, and very sweet. She started Kindergarten this fall. She loves school. And, she loves to swim.

And now to have more fun with my little one!

Birthday Boy Zadie

2011-05-02T16:40:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone:

This weekend we were up in L.A. celebrating Zadie's birthday. It was a very nice weekend. Bubbe hung out with Linda Saturday night while Bill and I went to see Source Code at Century City. Do you know that you can actually reserve a seat now when you purchase your movie tickets? Then we had a nice Italian dinner at Tuscana in Century City. It was very nice. Linda had a great time with her Bubbe and she went to sleep pretty quickly.

Sunday was Zadie's birthday brunch. It was a beautiful day so we ate outside. Zadie made some great lox.. ah heck he made a great meal with it too. :-)

My mom bought a wonderful cake. The "note" part of it was made with marzipan.

Bill and Linda decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood and Linda took some great pictures. Check them out.

It was nice to come back to warm weather. We can now eat dinner outside.

Have a great week.

A Great Busy Weekend

2011-04-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend. Saturday we were at Legoland with our friends the Clancys. Caitlin and Linda had a great time. We even went through the aquarium. They have updated it since we were last there and it was fun to see the sharks and the octopus.

Legoland also has a new Star Wars exhibit. I really enjoyed it but I thought they would have more from the older movies than the newer ones.

Sunday was the Padres vs. Phillies game. As soon as I heard the starting line-up and that Holaday was pitching for the Phillies I knew it was going to be a bad day for the Pads. I was right. Although the pitcher for the Pads did pretty well until about the six inning. It was a pitchers duel for awhile and the first six innings were done in about an hour... not bad.

I'm looking forward to some more games in our future this season.

That's it for now.

Hello Out There!

2011-04-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

I know it's been waaaaaaaaaaaay too long since we posted. Time goes by and the blog has been the last thing on our minds.

It's still fun to read other people's blogs, we just haven't made an effort to update ours. So here I am to update y'all.

Linda is now 5-years old. She is starting kindergarten in the Fall. I can't believe the time is almost here. She is definitely ready for it. I'm not sure I am.

Linda's favorite extra-curricular activity is swimming. She's pretty good at it too. Let's see if it sticks and she joins a swim team.

Things are pretty much still the same for Bill and myself. Bill is still working hard and I'm in my third year of being President of Families with Children from China - San Diego.

Our dog Amber is now 13-years old and blind. She's learning to adjust.

Other than that we have our annual trip to spring training in Phoenix, visits to grandparents in Lake Havasu City and Los Angeles.

So please enjoy these pictures and we will try to post more often.

Fair Day

2010-06-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

There is only one place you will see Swifty the Swimming Pig! Yessiree, we went to the Fair on Tuesday!

Linda and Mel taking a break not more than 1/2 hour into the Fair. Why? It took that long just to get in! We arrived at opening and sure enough 1/4 of San Diego showed, too.

We had a good time. We watched a couple of horsed do their thing during a horse jumping event. We saw the goats and cows. We walked the main drag and saw everything fried on a stick. We wandered the wares warehouses. Linda got a new toy and Mel a new duster. We all will benefit form the food screen when we do our backyard BBQs. Funnel cake and hot dogs. We did good. Then we ran out of time and energy, so we split.

Happy summer! (When will it warm up?)

Holt Family Picnic

2010-05-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

We had a real fun Saturday. First was Linda's second swim lesson in the morning and then in the car to Irvine for the Holt Family picnic! Linda loves the swim class and was up and ready to go. She was all ready for the change and drive to Irvine.

We had a great time at the picnic meeting up with friends and acquaintances who used Holt as their adoption agency. Jinji was so excited to see Linda. She dumped all the contents out of her little backpack to show Linda. So cute! It was great to see Molly and Haley again. They were awesome sitting with Jinji and Linda while us adults finished up our lunch. After lunch began the fun. To the playground!

The girls were having such a good time, and Daddy being Daddy, decided to stir it up a bit more. I began to catch and release the little ones. They were running all over the place. While we were having a ball a couple of other kids showed interest, as so we met Joy and Priscilla. They are sisters and had a great time, too. It is fun to make new friends and have such a good time.

By the end of the day we were all tired. From reports all the children fell asleep on the way home. We hope to hear from our new friends, and we can't wait to meet up with everyone again.

Where's the pictures? I was too busy playing with the children that I did not take any! I hope someone took pictures because we were having so much fun!

Linda Takes Swimming Lessons

2010-05-09T07:24:00.001-07:00

It is official. Linda had her first swimming lesson yesterday. She had a blast. It is a small class and they spend a little bit of time with the instructor. What made it more fun is Linda is in the class with one of her school friends.

Linda kickin' it up! (click on the photo for the big picture)

Linda "jumps" in. Actually, she slid in. (click on photo for big picture)

We actually had a good time watching, too. Go Linda, Go!

Warm Apple Cup

2010-03-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Okay a quick post while I still have tears in my eyes from laughter.

We were trying to figure out if we were going to the Cracker Barrel for lunch or not. Well on my diet I can really only have one meal outside of the Medifast meals and we have a lot of stuff in our fridge that I thought I was going to eat since tonight is a night game.

Well we made our decision to eat in and I say to Linda, "Do you want your spaghetti for lunch?"

She nods her head no and says, "Remember the warm apple cups?". Obviously she remembers the Cracker Barrel very well.

We were in tears. I think we are going to the Cracker Barrel.

Spring Training 2010: Part II

2010-03-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today, but before we get to that, I've added a picture from yesterday that Mel took. As mentioned we enjoyed a game and dinner with Mai and Mark. Becky, unfortunately, could not join us. Here is a picture of the gang. Linda and Mai had such a great time. It was awesome.

Today we went to Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, AZ. The Dodgers v. the Reds. What a game. Linda was shoot pictures all over. Check this one out of the field.
Here is a shot by me using Linda's camera. She must really like the game as we had to return to our seats after a brief walk. "Daddy, I want to go back to the seats. I miss them."

As we watched the game, Linda was shooting pictures everywhere. I even watched as she attempted a number of self portraits. This one came out good.

We started the day with some swimming. It was tough to get Linda out of the water to get ready for the game. A car nap and she was having fun at the stadium. Afterward, another car nap, a trip to the grocery store, and more swimming. We grilled with some friends and had a great time. Oh, and the Dodgers did win, 2-1. A great game for a Spring Training game.

Tomorrow brings a day of swimming and a night game. Padres v. Diamondbacks in Peoria. Yes, that will be 3 days, 3 different stadiums. If Tuesday works out it will be 4 days and 4 different stadiums, but we are not sure what game we will see.

Yes, Linda does miss home. She told me this evening. Yet, she says she is having a lot of fun here. Overall we are seeing all the "right" emotions from our little angel. Good night! Sleep well!

Spring Training 2010 Part I

2010-03-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day on our Spring Training Trip and did we have some fun! We arrived yesterday afternoon and settled down. Today we hit our first ball game at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, AZ. This is the home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. Our fun began before we got to the stadium. We were about a mile or so, sitting in traffic, from the stadium.

Me: "We are so close I can taste it."
Linda: "We are so close I can smell my hot dog!"
We all busted down laughing.
Linda did end up eating 2 hot dogs!

Today's game was the Royals v. the Oakland A's. 26 runs on 29 hits, the Royals pulled it off with a 14-12 win.

This is Mel and Linda enjoying the game. (remember to click on the picture for the whole view).This is the view from our seats. Surprise stadium is a very nice facility. It's one of our favorites.
We met our friends Mark and Mai who are part of our travel group when we picked up our daughters. Linda and Mai played and had a great time. The ate everything: hot dogs, popcorn, dried cranberries, peanuts.... After the game we went to dinner together. Parting was a bit sad, but hopefully we will see them again before we leave.

Tonight our friends Mark, Laurie, Chloe, and Will should be arriving. We head out to see the Dodgers and Reds tomorrow. They play in Goodyear, AZ, a new stadium which we visited last year. Nice facility, too. We'll see if it makes our list of the best.

Various Linda Photos w/ Sophia, Too!

2010-03-17T08:27:00.001-07:00

Click on the photos to see the whole picture!

Back a While: Wild Animal Park

2010-03-17T08:19:00.001-07:00

Hey look! What the ....? (click on photo to view whole picture)

Linda, Sophia, and Bird. Oh, don't forget the belly button! (click to view whole picture)
Cory, stop flippin' the bird!!! There are kids around!

Oh So Long.......

2010-03-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

So, what does Linda look like today. Gosh, when was the last time a picture was posted?

Enjoy this one, it is an awesome shot!

Whose Who?

2009-12-22T20:12:00.001-08:00

I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. I see the dog standing there with the inquisitive look.
I said, "Linda, what are you doing there?"
Linda replies, "That's not me, daddy! That's Amber!"
Me, "Oh, I was wondering when you got so much hair!"

You must love these little moments in life!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

We all have something to be thankful for, and many of us are thankful for our little ones. We are so thankful to have Linda with us. We just visited Lake Havasu and Grandpa and Grandma Ellen. We had a great time hanging out and playing.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and we look forward to a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Cheers!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. We had a good time. Even Linda enjoyed it more this year. Even though the picture doesn't look like she was having fun, she did!

Linda was our little Tinker Bell! We went up to Grossmont Center where they had their annual trick or treat event. Then we walked our street. One house had Linda spooked, but overall she had more fun this year than last. It was fun.

Till next time!

Jiangxi Travel Group Reunion

2009-10-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this past weekend visiting with the families from our travel group. It's been 3 years since we've all been home with our little ones! Well, they are growing, so little is not quite the right word. We had so much fun in Phoenix. Thanks Becky and Mark for hosting this year!

Swimming is always a hit with children and I sure did enjoy being the "steam engine" for a bunch of them in the pool. We loved the Train Park. Linda and I spent a little time looking at the model trains on display as there was a model train festival going on while we were there.

We miss you guys already and cannot wait to see you all again soon. Now a picture or two. More coming.

Linda having breakfast. MMMMMM, waffles.

Friends at dinner.

Can never get them to pose for a picture. They sure are cute, though!

A Fun Day with Friends

2009-09-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

We traveled to San Clemente to visit the Davee's today. Linda is always so excited to visit Jinji. Linda loves all her friends even if she doesn't get to see them too often. We had a great time. You cannot always get good action shots with a cell phone camera, but this one was a winner:

Kids and water always works! On the other hand, what shot did I get of Jinji?
Looks like Jinji got the best of Gator!

Thanks for the fun, guys!

She likes spaghetti!

2009-08-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

As if what she had for dinner wasn't enough. I caught her with my phone "finishing" up the left over spaghetti!

FCC-SD Kite Festival & After

2009-06-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome day at the Family with Children From China Kite Festival today. We have a couple of videos that need editing, but I could not resist the pictures below.
I think all the families had a great time today and we enjoyed catching up with them. Tough times flying kites as the wind was gusty at best, but better than other years. We did see one kite go for a long ride. I wonder where it ended up. Yup, lost in the wind and sailed away!

We returned home and in the process of cleaning up when our tired child, Linda, wanted MORE SWEETS! She grabbed a bag of cookies and was told "No, not now." Tantrum time. She sat it out and then stood it out, and then..... Well, she stood defiant in the family room. I finished some dishes and turned around. Linda passed out from either being too tired or a sugar crash. Now the picture:

As you can see she is out cold! Nappy time!

Disneyland: Work & Fun!

2009-06-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a couple of days at Disneyland. One of those perks when you work in radio. We arrived on Thursday late afternoon and played in the park until the new fireworks show. Linda was too worn out to continue to the new Fantasmic event. Anyways, we had a great time.

We had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen this morning. Oh what fun that was. Following is a clip of Linda with Chip! Enjoy.

Must Have Ducks

2009-06-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

So there we were the three us hanging around the house this morning. Bill and I were sitting in the living room trying to figure out what to do today and Linda is riding her bicycle around the house.

I finally said let's go to Seaport Village. For those of you that don't know it, it is a nice area of shops near the water here in San Diego.

Bill thought that was a great idea, but Linda had something else in mind. Linda wanted to go to Grossmont Center... a shopping mall. Well we go there and will be going there probably a thousand times during the week. So we said no.

Of course Linda comes back with that famous whine, "But I wannnnnnnt to."

We asked her why she wants to go there. She told us she wanted to see the puppies. We told her that at Seaport Village we could see ducks walking around.

Well we got to Seaport Village and found a duck walking around. We followed it for awhile. Then we went to Crazy Shirts (one of my favorite t-shirt places), the hat store and then took a walk to the Fish Market for lunch.

On the way we looked down at the rocks and water to find crabs. There were a few here and there. We saw some really cool kites flying around and then we walked over to the coffee place and had a quick coffee.

Then Linda asked for the merry-go-round. We all rode it. I swear I was holding on for dear life. That sucker is fast.

We were on our way out and I said to Linda, "Aren't you glad we came here. We had a great time?"

Linda said, "There was only ONE DUCK."

Oh brother, we thought. So we went over the little pond and there she got to see at least four or five ducks. And then Linda was happy.

Can't put anything past her. :-)

Bonsai Video

2009-05-27T13:53:00.001-07:00

Oh my. I do not know where she learned this. School?
This cracks her up when she sees it.

Video attempt

2009-05-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to upload a video or two from my phone. Let's see if this works!
This one is Linda playing with the water table and our neighbor yells over the fence.

It's been too long

2009-05-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

Linda is 3 1/2 y.o. She is adorable. She also gives us a few headaches. It's all part of growing up. Here are a couple of shots from my cell phone which are soooo damned cute. Can you say "daddy's girl"?

I just have no other words right now. Too tired to think, but at least you "get the picture"!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

I would love to jump up and down like Linda, but some of us are not feeling up to it. Our new year has started with the parents being quite ill. Today Melissa actually went into Urgent Care to get checked out. Apparently she has a pretty bad sinus infection causing this real nasty cough. I bet this is why my head is stuffed, yet I do not have the cough any longer.

Where did it come from? LINDA! Our little gem was sick over the holidays. She finally broke her fever on Christmas day. After about two months of coughing, she came down with a bug that lasted about a week. Sure enough a week later I am feeling pretty bad. A couple of days later, Mel.

Even though we are hit with this nasty stuff, it was awesome to see my Dad and Ellen during Thanksgiving, and then to see Bubbe and Zedie (Mel's Mom and Bill), for New Years. We greatly appreciated the visits. Of course, I was stuck working except for the actual holidays themselves.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great year and we continue to watch our wonderful child grow and become a beautiful young lady that she is.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

We had a holiday. Nothing special. Linda's fever broke and she was normal today. Coughing is still quite annoying. She cannot sleep. Doctor's are worthless. Hopefully we will learn more when she is tested for allergies.

Pictures of Linda from Reunion

2008-12-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

More to come.

Adoption Family Reunion 2008

2008-10-13T20:58:00.001-07:00

The weekend is done and we had such a blast! There is so much to talk about that I do not even know where to begin! I'll give a brief run-down and mention now that tons of pictures are on the way!
Friday was a day at the beach and dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Saturday was a day at Legoland and dinner/BBQ at our co-host's house.
Sunday was a day of rest and most families had to leave.
Monday was a day at Seaworld with the last couple of families.

All in all it was a great success. To see all the children growing up and to know that we, as families, share something in common and fee that we should stay in touch is wonderful. Thank you to all that participated and to those who could not, we still think of you.

Pictures to come! I have much processing to do. Stay tuned.

2008 Moon Festival

2008-09-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

As you all know we have been a bit sloooooow posting pictures and writing about our fine experiences with Linda. Approaching 3 years of age and we are having the full spectrum of highs, lows, and in-betweens. Well, how about a little bit on the high side today? We attended the FCC (Families with Children from China) 2008 Moon Festival and another one sponsered by the China House in Balboa Park. Both were as fun as fun can be.

Starting with the FCC event, we arrived early and Linda had a ball at the park. No, she did not have a ball, she had FUN! Being a Saturday and the fact she would get to stay up a bit later than normal, she made the most of the time. The playground was fabulous. The group then does a little "march" around the park with their lanterns. I did manage to get one OK shot off as I was too busy being Dad to take pictures. I am the toy, you know.

At the festivities at Balboa Park, we had some great entertainment. I did get a few shots off and even Mel pitched in with camera duties. I will have more Linda exclusives, but enjoy the shots of the dancers that follow.

Wholly C* Batman, We Haven't Posted!!!!

2008-08-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know and Mel knows, we have not posted in quite some time. Thanks for the reminders, folks. We have been so busy "parenting" that we forget or are too tired to post. Go figure, everyone else seems to have no problem having a camera about and ready to post. Hmmm? I wonder if they keep their computers/laptops handy for all occasions? Me, I get tired of staring at a computer to really do much more than check emails and some news. I better get with the show!

Pictures are to come, but here is the latest. Our little darling is growing up so fast! We are doing the TT (Toilet Training) or whatever you want to call it. It has been 85% successful. Linda is quite a strong-headed little girl and does very well with a little mishap here and there. Otherwise, we've had people tell us she is doing fine. Mel? Well, we won't get into that.

We made our first cross-country trip a couple of weeks ago to Maryland! We visited for the first time Linda's Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Jon, and nephew Jonathan. Linda had a blast! The flight was a nonstop on Southwest. We had no issues. Linda got her own seat and we bought one of those safety harnesses. The first time we used it she began to do a little crying until we showed her that mommy and daddy had to wear their belts, too. We had toys and games. Books. Linda loved the white board and markers (dry erase). She is such a good traveler I wonder if she instinctively knows she flew half-way around the world at a very young age!

Baltimore was beautiful. I know we took our chances doing an August trip, but the weather cooperated all week. Linda enjoyed the National Aquarium and walk around the Inner Harbor. The house had a swing set that she loved. Uncle Jon bought a pool so we could have a dip which we managed to squeeze in one day. Oh, and the fire flies! Linda was amazed. We caught a couple and put them in a bug box. She looked at them with wonder. Birds. Deer. Wood chucks! One morning we were sitting in the sun room playing as we just got up. I had to take a nature break. I walked back Linda was squeaking with excitement. She spotted a baby deer and a mommy deer! Excited and proud, she stared at them and we watched until they trotted off into another yard. How fun.

Linda really enjoyed her and aunt and uncle and I hope we get a chance to visit again soon. It's a shame it is such a hassle to travel and the expense. It was worth it, though.

More later! And did I mention, pictures, too?

PS- Did I mention how difficult it is to take pictures of Linda? As soon as she sees the camera she runs behind it and yell, "I want to see!" "There's nothing to see, I haven't taken a picture yet!" She's funny. I think she will get a cool present for her birthday this year. Wink wink.

Two New Video Clips!

2008-04-06T21:42:00.001-07:00

After a real fun Spring Training trip, as you can tell from previous posts, I'm finally getting around to posting a video. Well, it's the best I could do with our little director hanging around!

This next one is actually from today! A new "toy" came home from Spring Training. Guess who wants to play?! :-)

Play Ball

2008-03-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a great vacation!!! I was kind of concerned before we left because Linda is going through a very minor “terrible two’s” stage. There are no temper tantrums just a little whinny and usually “I want to go home”. The other thing was that at home she wanted nothing to do with the “Pack and Play’ so I figured she really doesn’t need it at home so I put it away.

Well, we had a great drive to Phoenix. Linda took a couple of half-hour naps in the car. We sang and played with her “car buddies” Pooh, purple bear, piggy book and elephant. We got to the La Quinta hotel and was very happy to see our nice big room.

Our friends the Sobos were already in town. They went out to lunch so Bill went to get us some food while I unpacked our clothes. Linda has this new little travel train track with Thomas the Train. She was happily playing with the toy on the bed. It’s great that the bed is low enough that Linda can climb up and down by herself.

When our friends got back it was time for the pool. Linda had a blast. By the second day she was swimming by herself with her floaties on… and finally keeping her mouth closed this year!!!! Yeah!!! We are definitely going for swimming lessons this summer.

Well now it was time for our first game and it was an evening game. Again, a little concerned since no real nap and big crowd. Linda had a great time. We were in the first row of the Padres vs. Mariners games on the first base side. When everyone would clap, Linda would clap. When the ball was hit Linda would yell, “I got it”. That was hilarious. I would tell her to yell “Go Padres”. Yes those words came out of my mouth. She would yell “Go Padres”.

We left about 9:15pm because I was getting tired. Linda was delirious but having a great time. When we were in the car I reminded Linda that she was going to sleep in the “Pack and Play”. Linda said, “No, I’m scared of the Pack and Play”. I said that we are going to put sheets under the pad and then her fitted sheet so it would be more comfortable and that she would have Mickey, Arf Arf and Pooh sleeping with her and we are all in the same room. When we got back she was trying to climb in the “Pack and Play”. We put her in, read a couple of books and we all went to sleep. We never heard from her all night. Yeah!!!!!

The next day was more pool time in the morning and then off to the Padres vs. Brewers game. This was a new stadium to us. It’s in Maryvale. It’s not a great area of Phoenix but what a nice park and a lot of grass seating. Our friends the Sobos arrived there first and picked an area to sit in. Mark called me and said, “We are on the lawn by the third base side. It will get shady”. Boy was he right. It was great. We had a great time. Linda was playing with Chloe for most of the game and they had a blast. After a while Bill took Linda and Chloe for a walk and Chloe got hit by a foul ball. Chloe is just fine. Then the man that got the ball gave the ball to Chloe. Now that’s exciting.

What was also great about this game is that we met up with our friends that live here that were in our travel group in China, Becky, Mark and Mai. Wow I tell ya, when you look at Linda and Mai it’s amazing to see how much they have both grown.

After the game we all went to that culinary delight, The Cracker Barrel. Ah yes, nothing better than Chicken ‘N Dumplins and some corn bread. It was a nice treat to have everyone at dinner.

Saturday was the big game for me. It was the Dodgers vs. Angels game. We woke up to me with a sore throat and Linda in a grumpy mood. This vacation was really getting to Linda. Needless to say naps and sleep time was all screwed up. She would be so excited that she wouldn’t even sleep in the car. But you know all this was smoothed over with a little visit from Chloe at breakfast. La Quinta has a free breakfast bar and we would all meet up there at some point. Chloe came and sat with us and Linda had a great time talking and eating with her. My throat, well I guess Phoenix wasn’t as kind to me as it usually is. Bill thinks it’s because they also had a decent amount of rain and so stuff is actually blooming here too.

We headed off to the game and let me tell you Sobo did a great job again at picking seats. It was in the upper 80’s today but we wouldn’t know that since we were in the shade. It was wonderful. We were in the last row of seats behind home plate. You have to remember that these stadiums are very small so it’s pretty close. I was sitting in front of where Fernando Valenzuela was broadcasting for a Spanish station in L.A. For those of you who know who that is… you know I was dying. He wouldn’t give me an autograph though. I guess he was too busy… oh well.

Linda was her delirious self again. She had a great time in the seats with Chloe making “pies and soups” with their hats and pom poms. Towards the end of the game, Linda was screaming, “GO DODGERS” as loud as she could. The people in front had a blast with this. They were hoping for a rally and thought maybe Linda’s screams would help. It didn’t, they lost 4-2.

Chloe’s brother Will got a real cool set of baseball trading cards. He now has an Ichiro card and a new Andruw Jones in a Dodgers jersey card. Great cards Will.

After we said goodbye to the Sobos (since they were leaving today), we decided to go for a drive to see if Linda would sleep… not. We ended up at a Macaroni Grill and as soon as we got there, she fell asleep so we decided to do “to go”. I think we are all going to bed early.

Tomorrow after having breakfast with a friend we will be on our way home. This has been a great trip. I’m already looking forward to next year.

A Rainy Day

2008-02-29T22:07:00.001-08:00

It has been a while since we posted a video of Linda. I took the opportunity to capture some of her finest moments. I will upload more. This one is a test as it has been sooooooo long. Enjoy!

And I just finished another clip. Here is one busy little girl!

I've Seen The Future

2008-02-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

A little tibbit from this morning.

I'm walking around brushing my teeth (yes a wierd habbit of mine) and wandered into Linda's room. Linda comes by wheeling her shopping cart and this is what she said to me:

Get out my room... my room.

Well there you have it. A look into teenage life.

I Can't Believe How Time Is Flying

2007-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe how long it’s been since we have posted here. A lot has gone on since our last post. First off there was Thanksgiving in Lake Havasu with Grandma and Grandpa. As usual, we had a blast. It was nice to see everyone feeling well and pretty much back to their routines. We spent a day in Oatman, AZ and met up with one of our friends, J.R.. If you don’t know about Oatman, it’s an old mining town in Arizona on Route 66. The fun thing about Oatman (and the main reason to go to Oatman) is that wild donkeys hang around town and you feed them carrots. We wanted Linda to get a chance to feed them carrots. Well guess what. The donkeys skipped town that day (probably due to wind). There was not one donkey to be seen…. hmmmm. So we had lunch and took off.

When we got home it was time for Bill to do some major work. No not at home ( I wish it was) but at work. Bill is rebuilding three studios by the end of year. Needless to say, we have not seen much of him. While Bill was at work I was busy getting Linda’s birthday party ready, getting Linda ready for preschool and a visit from Bubbie and Zadie.

Linda started preschool the first week of December and is going two days a week. We both had a nasty cry the first day but we got over it. Linda had a great time in school. When I picked her up she had a great big hug for me. That was the best part of my day. When I asked her what she did in school she said, “Pizza, Juice, Mirna”. That’s pretty much her standard answer now when I pick her up.

Bubbie and Zadie arrived later that week for Linda’s birthday party. It was nice to have the family in town. The weather was kind of sucky so that made us all very lazy.

Well next is birthday party. We had it at Playtown. It is a great indoor playground for toddlers. We all had a blast. They do a nice job there. They even take your presents to your car. We forgot our camera but Mary and Bill were there for the rescue. Thanks for the great pictures.

The next week came the nasty head cold from preschool. That didn’t take long. It was frustrating because I felt horrible for Linda, she was just miserable with this one. She was congested, coughing, vomiting, fever and nose bleeds. This was only a head cold and it seemed worse than Bronchiolitis. I think that’s because she was younger then and she didn’t get frustrated just being in the house. I was also suffering from sinus crap (yes that’s a technical term). We really hadn’t seen much of Bill in those couple of weeks and I was really looking forward to him being home for the weekend and I being able to just get rid of the sinus crap or at least taking a little time to myself…. Nope didn’t happen. Bill got sick. Oh brother!!!! I had to try to keep Linda away from Bill so they wouldn’t just past germs to each other. That wasn’t happening. Linda wanted nothing to do with me when Bill was home. So none of us really got any rest.

Well we are finally over that hump. Yeah!!!! We are just draining now. Linda is back to her happy self. We are looking forward to the New Year and what exciting things will be coming our way.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!!!

Jiangxi 12-06

2007-10-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is the group number for our travel group to China. It is the number we used a little over a year ago to meet our daughter in China.

This past weekend six of the families from that group (including us) reunited in Dallas. Thanks to Patty for arranging our weekend.

When we met up Friday evening at Patty's house, it felt like we just saw each other the day before. The parents continued with their conversations like they never really stop.
The girls of course are all almost two years old with the exception of Jiani. I think she's about four years old. I don't think they remember each other but they had a great time together. I think to them it was just meeting up with some fresh faces. They were all shy at the beginning, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to each other. They are all very tall and they all have the same personalities. None of them really whined much and they were all jumping beans.

Saturday we went to the Dallas Arboretum. It was great. There were lots of pretty plants and a great pumpkin festival. There was also a really cool chocolate festival. It smelled soooo good.

Saturday night we were all at Patty's parents house for a wonderful pasta dinner. They had a jumpy in the back yard and Linda went in for 10 seconds. That's a new record for her. I don't get, she loves to jump, she just doesn't like to be in a jumpy.

We tried to do the "red couch" picture. As you can see the kids had some other ideas.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with two of the families at the hotel. It felt like China with older kids. We had a great time and talked about next year. I'm pulling for San Diego to be the next trip with a stop at Legoland.

It was great to see everyone and I miss them all over again.

Pumpkin Patch!

2007-10-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Now this is a first. It's the second time we've been to the pumpkin patch with Linda! Wow! Now that is out of the way, we visited Bates Nut Farm once again. It looks like this is going to be a family tradition as we all had a ton 'o fun. This year we invited our friends to join us. As the saying goes, "a good time was had by all!"

Linda driving the tractor!

Look at those goofy pumpkins!

Sophia, Jinji, Jarrah, & Linda

Which way, Paul?

So many pumpkins!

On No! They got me!

Linda & Jarrah

It's this big! Whaaaaat?

There are so many more pictures I will have to process them and do a later posting. Thanks to Cory for having fun with my camera when I was busy being Dad!

We had so much fun! Thanks to everyone for coming out and joining us. We are looking forward to next year!

Oktoberfest in La Mesa

2007-10-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that we are now REPEATING events! Yes, Linda has been home over one year! Her first major event to attend was the Oktoberfest. Of course, we had to go back this year and as luck would have it I did not have to work making it much more enjoyable. On a last moment call our friend Cory and Lena joined us. Thanks for the pictures!

Our favorite is Linda enjoying the Chicken Dance on daddy's shoulders. Oh the things that I must endure.

And what child does not want to play with daddy's hat. Linda loves to play with my hat. Hers? NOOOOOOO. Mine? Yeeeeees.

Finally, there must always be a goofy shot of daddy. Hey, it's part of the job, right?

Next weekend, the pumpkin patch! See you there!

An Interesting Encounter On The Way To The Mall

2007-10-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a while since a post! Someone has be slacking.

Mel, Linda, and I visited family this past weekend in L.A. We had a great visit and Linda did not want to leave. It's tough not to have family close by as some of you know. We make the most of it, though.

Saturday afternoon we decided to walk to the Beverly Center to get out and stretch our legs and it gave us an excuse to let Linda loose, too. As we crossed a street the driver from the car waiting for us yelled out, "Is that your daughter?" I did not quite get the question the first time and asked to repeat it while trying to figure out if there was a potential incident. It was L.A.
I responded, "yes, she sure is!".
The man then returns with, "I was adopted by a Caucasian couple. I wish you the best."
We thanked him for his kind comments and continued on our way.
You might have guessed, the man was an African-American.

All we could think at the time, "Only in L.A. would that happen." Very cool.

We proceeded to have a fun time in the mall and let Linda walk, jump, and dance her way around.

P.S. We will get a couple of new pix uploaded soon!

A Great Summer

2007-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

I know we have been very bad at posting! I’ve got to say that after a full day with Linda, I don’t really feel like looking at a computer for too long.

Linda has grown so much in the last couple of months both physically and mentally. She is climbing on just about anything you can think of and she is talking so much.

We started the summer with a trip to Disneyland. Bill had to work there again so we tagged along. It was a nice birthday trip for me. It was the opening of the “Finding Nemo” submarine ride. Disneyland took the old sub ride and revamped into a “Finding Nemo” theme. It was great!! It’s the second longest ride (after “Pirates of the Caribbean”) at 12 minutes long. Linda had a great time and it was really neat for me to see her getting into a ride I remember going on with my family when I was little.

For the 4th of July holiday we went to see Grandpa and Grandma Ellen in Lake Havasu. It was a very relaxing vacation. We hung out at the pool in the morning (when it was only 90 degrees). And played with some indoor toys in the afternoon (when it was 124 degrees). We were going to go the Aquatic Center one day but we got blocked in by a house fire across the street. There were three fire trucks (and a fire catering truck for the firefighters so they wouldn’t get thirsty) blocking us in so we couldn’t drive out. No one was in the house during the fire. The house in under renovation… hmmm. It was great to see the folks and we hope to see them again soon.

Last weekend Bubbie and Zadie came out to spend time with us and see the Dead Sea Scrolls that are on exhibit here in San Diego. The exhibit was fascinating!!! How can anybody read anything that small? We had a great time with Bubbie and Zadie. We blew up our large kid pool from Costco. It fit all five us very nicely. Linda had a blast even if her teeth were chattering.

In between all of this we had some nice play dates. Linda and I went to a pool party. I found out about this great floating device that Linda loves. She no longer wants to sit in her ducky (who can blame her). This device lets her move around the pool very nicely.

Here are some recent pictures of Linda and her friends. The picture of the two dads is at the Holt Picnic in June. The other little girl named Elianna is one the girls in our travel group. She comes from the same orphanage as Linda. She is a total sweetheart.

Instant Toddler

2007-06-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

I was wandering the house settling things down after returning from Disneyland. More on that later, i.e. another post. Mel decided to lay down and rest = sinus pain in a big way. I lost track of our little darling until I hear the call: "Honey, look at what our child is doing?"

A picture, well in this case, video speaks for itself! Enjoy!

Couple of Pictures

2007-05-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

While learning video editing, I clipped these two frames. I know everyone is hurting for more pictures, so while I work on video I will throw a few of these up! Yeah!

Both of these were shot while Linda was playing with the lawnmower referred to in the previous post. Can you tell she is having fun?

Linda and Her Slide

2007-05-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

How cool. Linda has her own slide! She also has her own little lawnmower. (Maybe some day I won't have to mow that lawn!)
Here is a little video of her trying it out. She still needs a bit of assistance on the top, but other than that it is all fun and games!

Linda is doing quite well and is having a great time in life, or at least she is when we aren't doing crazy things to her!

I Went To a Street Brawl and a Baseball Game Broke Out

2007-04-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have to go back a week before I get to the real meat of this post. A week ago Thursday I took Linda to a day game at Petco Park. It was the Padres vs. Diamond Backs.

I was a little scared about taking Linda by myself but I thought what the heck. The worst that could happen is that she gets antsy and we’ll have to go to the “Park at the Park” and play.

I managed to score the first seat in a row on the Toyota Terrace Unreserved. The price was half off the norm because Thursday day games are two for one or half off one on the Toyota Terrace Unreserved section and only $10 parking in the 8th and Harbor Garage.

So I packed a lunch for Linda and off we went. I went to one of the snack bars to get a hot dog and found out they are also two for one. I thought great. I’m getting Linda a hot dog too. We sat down at this hidden section I know about where there is always an empty table and we had our hot dogs.

Then we went to the Toyota Terrace, put the stroller inside some railings between a beam and a trash can and walked four steps down to our seat at the beginning of the row. We had a blast. Linda was yelling “ball”, dancing with the music and clapping when everyone was clapping. I had a tear in my eye. She sat on my lap for about an hour and a half and had a great time.

I was so excited when we got home that I had to call my friend Martha and tell her about it. Martha loves baseball like I do and is also from L.A. During our conversation we decided to go to Petco Park for the Padres vs. Dodgers game.

Well folks that was last night. I think Martha was a little surprise at my Dodger gear and that I’m gutsy enough to wear it here in San Diego. We wandered around the park for a bit, got some food and drinks and went to our seats. We had a very nice conversation and watched the Trevor Hoffman festivities in peace.

Then the idiots arrived. I have lived here for ten years now and I still don’t understand the “fair weather” Padre fan (no I’m not talking about real Padre/baseball fans). You know the idiots that have no idea what they are talking about and just yell to hear their own voices. But after ten years (and I guess being a mom now) I have just learned to roll my eyes, grumble a little and ignore it.

Martha is not use to it. This idiot kept yelling stupid things in our ears. His kid is bopping me with his balloon hammer and they were just plain annoying. Martha turned around and asked politely to keep it down and it got worse. He was throwing the f-bombs and other things and Martha was upset because HE’S SAYING ALL OF THIS INFRONT OF HIS TODDLER!!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!

Then he just started to get personal. I don’t remember what he said but Martha got up in his face (you go girl). The guy behind the idiot had to hold him back.

At this time the Dodgers were losing so that was not helping things. We decided to leave our seats about the 8th inning (really because I didn’t want to deal with the idiot while trying to go down steps). We found an usher and Martha told him the story. He didn’t help much. Then we found another usher that basically said, “Sorry but we have to deal with bigger drunks than that.”

As we were leaving we saw on the screen that Trevor Hoffman was blowing the save and the game was tied. When we got to the car, the Dodgers won 6-5. Yeah!!! I bet the idiot was quiet in his seat now.

Gotta love baseball.

We Are Home!!!!!

2007-03-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Enough said.

Where Are We????

2007-03-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the car is quite sick. Seems like it will get a new alternator and battery along with a new set of AC compressor bearings. Oh fun.

Linda? Doing great. Of course she is quite wacked out on any consistency when it comes to eating and sleeping, but she is hanging in there. Tonight is the first night she actually has fallen asleep before 9pm! This will last up to when this noisy air conditioner turns back on. We've had some good nights with minor whining, so the AC in this room has not disturbed her too much. Every time we ride in the car is a different story. Out cold. She doesn't last more than 10 or 15 minutes before falling asleep.

Today we visited my Dad as a family. He is doing great and is waiting to be released from the hospital. Looks like tomorrow is the day. What a bummer! he will get to go home before we do! Actually, that is awesome. Linda was her cute self on the visit. After a little time in the room, Mel took her outside in a courtyard where Grandpa was able to watch her run around a bit. All was good.

We hit the pool this afternoon. Only the second time on this trip. :-( Linda had a great time in the water once again. The floating duck chair is a hit. After we rinsed off and relaxed we treated ourselves to the Macaroni Grill. Nice place and pretty good food. Linda was such an angel. We had two elderly couples tell us how cute she is. How nice.

After a little work we are now ready to settle down. We can't wait to get home!

The Murphy's Spring Training Trip

2007-03-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we are having "fun" on this trip, but I think Linda is having the most fun and I will start with this: Linda has been such a trooper and sooooooooo good!

We decided to start our trip a day early as a family crisis, mild but a crisis, occurred which landed my Dad in the hospital. Where? No place but Phoenix. BTW, he is doing very well and should be released sometime during the week. We started our trek on Thursday morning. A beautiful morning for SD. It was uneventful until we arrived in Phoenix. We get to the hotel and find that it is so new that the pool was not even open! "How long?" we asked. Another couple of weeks! There is no way in hell we are going to stay in Phoenix with another family and have no pool for the kids to play in, so the mad dash to find another place. We manage to get rooms in another place and got a decent discount, but we are going to be calling the customer relations folks as soon as this wacky trip is over. Thursday is shot. At least I got to visit my Dad.

Friday was a pretty good day. Nothing to report. Linda did not get to the pool for her very first swim, but she did get to see, and I use that term losely, her first baseball game. We had a good time running around, and she did OK sitting in our laps for a couple of innings. It was also a rare time that she was up waaaaaaay past her bed time. Well, that has become a common occurrence on this trip. I guess that is what vacations are for.

Today started well. Linda had her first dip in a swimming pool. No complaints. She had a wonderful time. I carried her in the pool without a whine or scream. We bought a floating duck that she can sit in. She loved that. She kicked and splashed. Linda does not like blow-up arm floaters. Oh well, back to the duck. She was so tired afterwards that she took a nap from which she did not want to wake up, but we had a game to get to. This game we decided on as a last minute one and we were to buy lawn seats, so we did not buy in advance. We were less than a mile away from the stadium when we got the call from our friends that it was SOLD OUT! We retreated to Peoria to see the Mariners play the Rangers. On the way to Peoria I misjudged a dip in the road. Mel was feeding Linda as she was starving. Wham! Pasta salad on the floor in the back and on top of Mel's Coach purse! Bill is on the shit list now. We finally get to the game and enjoyed the few innings we were there. Well, we played with the kids and just had fun.

After the game we decided to do the scenic route back to our hotel and cruise down through Phoenix to Scottsdale and then to the hotel. We never made it to Scottsdale. Murphy struck again and our little Mazda SUV dropped dead. After a number of phone calls and the battery on the cell phone was dying, we got a tow to the closest Mazda dealer. The dealer sent a salesman to pick us up and he waited with us until the tow truck arrived. While we were waiting, Mel took Linda to a Walgreens across the street to cool down while I waited in the 90+ degree heat for the drivers. We used the Mazda roadside assistance plan that we purchased and thus all the "rides". The dude from Mazda took us down to the airport so we could rent a car! Yup, we now have a rental while the Tribute gets checked, and that won't even be until Monday as the service department is closed on Sundays as usual. We drove out of the rental car lot at 7:20pm. How wacky and random that Mel and I discussed earlier how nice it would be to get Linda down at a reasonable time. NOT! We went to dinner and now, at 10:20pm, Linda is yelling for Mama and is showing no signs of settling down! She will when I am done here.

So now we are stuck here in Phoenix for what looks like an extra day as we were to return home on Monday, but Tuesday will be more like it if all goes well with the car. We still love that car, it's just a bummer that this happened on this trip with everything else that is going on. Another random thing is that I took the car in last Tuesday for a regular service! Talk about adding insult to injury.

I hope Murphy was only visiting today and the next couple of days will be fun and as normal as could be expected. Linda has been patient and just a little princess through all of this sitting in car seats, strollers, and unknown cars. I hope everyone else has had uneventful days and we are taking care of Murphy. We are now going to try and get some sleep.

A Conversation Between Mother and Daughter

2007-03-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Here is our daily conversation.

Linda: Mama mama

Me: Yes Linda

Linda: Uh

Linda: Mama mama

Me: Yes sweetheart

Linda: hehehehehehe

Linda: Mama mama

Me: Yes dear

Linda: Fish

Me: Not before breakfast sweetheart. Drink some milk.

Linda: Mama mama

Me: Yes Linda

Linda: Dog

Me: Yes the dog is over there.

Linda: Mama mama

Me: Yes sweetheart

Linda: Dada

Me: Daddy is at work. He'll be home later.

Enough said. :-)

Mommy Lessons

2007-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

Linda is feeling much better now. She is almost her old self. We have been keeping a low profile this week. At the beginning of the week it was easy because Linda was very mellow. We would read books and watch Baby Einstein DVDs and Sesame Street. Of course as the week goes on and Linda is feeling better we have to get creative and play with lots of toys. Then she's getting cabin fever (like myself) and grabs her jacket and heads straight for the front door and points. So we do quick trips.

Today when Bill came home I took a quick exercise walk. On my walk I bumped into a neighbor with two little kids. I told her about Linda's bronchiolitis. She just kinda rolled her eyes and said that's a bummer. Then she goes on to says something like a couple of weeks ago her son got the flu and then a little while later her daughter got it. She just wish that the kids got the flu at the same time.

Okay, here I am practically in tears because Linda was feeling miserable. I was all concerned about her breathing and drinking enough fluids. The neighbor just wished her kids get sick at the same time.

Wow it just reminds me of that line in the movie Parenthood where the one mother says with her first child they really watch him closely. By the third child we were letting them juggle knives.

I guess I'll still be practically in tears when Linda is feeling miserable for a little while (18 years).

Chicken Broth for the Sick

2007-02-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well we are dealing with Linda's first childhood illness. Linda came down with a runny nose and cough on Friday. Like usual she was her wonderful self. Still bright and smiley and full of energy... just with a runny nose and cough. Saturday was pretty much the same. But Sunday morning her breathing just didn't seem right to me. It was kind of loud and shallow.

So we called the doctor and went in for a 11am appointment. Yes on a Sunday (we love our doctor's office). The doc took one listen to her lungs and said we made a good choice coming in today. She was wheezing. She has bronchiolitist... ugh!!!! So the doc sent us home with some prescriptions and told us to give her plenty of liquids.

It's interesting to see how mother's intuition kicks in. Even though Linda just had a runny nose and cough, no fever and still had energy to play, I just didn't feel that her breathing was quite right. I hate the situation but I'm glad to see I actually have the knack for being a mom.

We are hoping for a peaceful night. Bill is just getting over a sinus thing. My sinuses are clogged up. And, the last couple of nights have been horrible for Linda. I've got to tell you Bill was a trooper last night. It was the worst for Linda. She could not get comfortable. Bill was there to calm her down while I tried to unclogged my sinuses and get some sleep.

One thing I have learned is that if you need a good liquid for your kid to drink/eat, chicken broth works great. I think between the first dose of medication and the broth, it gave Linda a good sneeze that was a real mess. But she was breathing better after that.

Linda Flying

2007-02-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Linda is really getting into her Tigger plane. We took it outside on Saturday and let her ride in the driveway. It is one of those push toys. Linda's legs are just long enough for her to move it. Since we have a slight slope in the driveway we discovered that Linda likes to move forward towards the garage and then roll backwards to be caught by one of us.

We did have an incident where she went forward into the lawn and do a tumble. It was quite entertaining as she went forward and over. Like a trouper, she was having so much fun she forgot to cry and got right back on for some more fun.

Oh No! And you Thought Bill Would be the Corruptor!

2007-01-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, after dinner I finished cleaning up. Yeah, like a good husband I do the dishes. Anyways, I wander into the family room and what do I find!

And you thought the geek, myself, would be the first to start the kid on computers! As I find out Linda likes to crawl into Mel's lap when Mel is checking email and reading the news. Who knows what else she is browsing! I guess it is all downhill from here!

As I understand it, Linda likes to look at pictures, so when Mel cruises over to blogs, Linda looks at the pictures that are posted. Cute.

Night all!

Baseball is Only a Couple Of Months Away....

2007-01-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

So, leave it to Mel to get Linda, and me, to a baseball event. Today we went to Petco Park to visit the stadium and have some fun as it was Friar's Fest. Yeah, Mel is the Dodgers fan, but when it comes to baseball she is willing to do almost anything.

Today we didn't care to get autographs, but we did "walk the bases" with Linda and visit the team store and wander the stadium. After lunch we visited the Park at the Park and let Linda run around on the grass. We all had a good time.

On the way out, Linda wanted to push her own stroller, so away she went! This is her new favorite pastime. It is quite cute. It does slow us down a bit, but that is a small price to pay to tire out a youngster!

As Promised...

2007-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

Linda's First Birthday

2007-01-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

I’m not a very mushy person by nature. I’m not one for writing love letters. I know Bill and I were very happy to be able to celebrate Linda’s first birthday together. It was all I could think about for awhile after we received our referral.

We can’t tell you how happy we are that we got to experience some of Linda’s baby stage. There are so many transitions that Linda has gone through. We are seeing her change from a baby to a toddler right before our eyes.

Well Linda is now 13 months old. She is walking more than crawling around the house. She has fun at the playground now and even goes to her favorite (play) bus at the park and gets to the steering wheel by herself.

Linda is staring to mimic us. She likes to brush her hair and teeth and wants to put her socks on all by herself (of course she has a way to go on that but what an effort).

We went to the doctor yesterday for Linda’s 13 month visit. Linda is doing very well. She is 31” tall and 22.4lbs. She is above average for all the groups. The doctor was very please to see her walking so well.

I know I say this quite a bit, but it’s just amazing the changes that we see everyday in her. There is always something new.

(Don’t worry pictures will follow.)

Let me just finish this post by saying:

Linda, mommy and daddy love you very much!!!!!

Decmeber, Birthday and Holidays... Oh my!!!

2007-01-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Well we made it through our first December. I can see now that December will always be a busy month.

First we start off with Linda’s birthday. It landed on a Saturday this year so it was an all-weekend event. Bubby came in for a long weekend and even got to baby sit on Friday night so Bill and I could go to Bill’s Company Holiday Party. We had a nice evening and Bubby did a great job.

Linda’s birthday party was on Sunday. Zadie came in early Sunday morning for the festivities. We had Linda’s friends (and their parents of course) come over for a morning party. It was suppose to be at a local park but the weather did not hold up so it was at our house. Linda had a great time. (Pictures to follow)

Next was Chanukah. We had Lisa and Anton over for some playtime, potato latkes and jelly donuts. We also went to Jarrah’s house for some potato latkes and fun play time.

And last was our trip to Lake Havasu City to visit Grandpa and Grandma Ellen for a long weekend. We had a great time. Linda loved to explore the house. She did a lot more walking. Linda has also decided that she wants to brush her hair, her teeth and feed herself now. Wow, everyday is a new change in her. She is growing up so fast.

Grandpa gave her a little truck to play with at the house and she loved it. She would push it around and made a funny vroom vroom noise. It was cute to watch.

New Year’s Eve was pretty quiet. Linda stayed up till 8:15pm…. Wow! With Bill’s job, it’s not very often that we get to spend New Years together at home so we really enjoyed that.

Well that's it for now. Have a Happy New Year!!!!

FCC Holiday Picnic, 12/3/2006

2006-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

It’s been some time since we’ve posted. You might say that I have been busy, but the real busy one is Melissa! Being a full-time mom sure takes its toll and Mel is handling it like a champ. Keep up the good work, babe!

Today we went to the FCC (Families with Children from China) Holiday picnic. The weather was awesome and we got to see friends that we haven’t seen in some time and meet new people. It was a blast to see Jinji, the new addition to Mary and Bill’s family. They’ve only been home two weeks! Jarrah was there. She is a bundle of energy to say the least. All in all, we had a good time.

Here we have Bill playing his part as the "baby whisperer". He has his hands full with Linda and Jinji!

Here are the newcomers to the FCC. Jinji is the newest addition. On the Mel's left is Molly. She came home the same time Linda did! Oh, and the young lady on the left in the picture is 15 years old, if I remember. As you can tell some of these children have been adopted years ago and they still participate in this group. Just amazing!

Linda is progressing very well. She so wants to walk it will occur any time now. She barely holds onto your fingers while she walks and I believe she is using it as a safety net as she is not too sure of the balance thing. We have witnessed her testing the waters of standing without assistance and there have been a couple of steps in there too. One day soon she will just motor right on off and bonk her head. I can see it happening. She has done some minor bonking so far, but the big one is to come!

Linda making friends!

Teething. This is the other major event happening right now. Wednesday evening she woke up wailing. It was not pretty and we ended up giving her some Tylenol. Sure enough, there is another tooth coming in up front and something tells me there are a couple of others right behind that one. She learned that the frozen chew toy is a good thing, though she does not use it for long.

We are pretty sure her first word was “dog”. She gets excited if she sees one on T.V. or when Amber comes around. She points and utters what sounds to be “dog”! One of these days she will get that Mommy and Daddy thing down, but we figure that will come soon enough. She doesn’t say, “no”, but she does shake her head when no is implied. It’s amazing how fast that one is learned!

You all have a good time and I hope to write more soon. More pictures. I know, more pictures. I’m getting there! :-)

Giving Thanks

2006-11-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving and we have a lot to be thankful for. We have our health, our happiness, our family, our friends and most of all Linda.

It has been a little over two months since we have met Linda and just about two months since we have been home. I can say there have definitely been a lot of changes in Linda in only two months.

When we met Linda she already had a great personality. Linda could sit up straight, but you had to put her in that position. She would roll around or scoot backwards to get to places. And she never had any solid food.

Now she can sit up on her own from a laying down position. She can crawl very smoothly and even get up and down the little step we have going into the family room. She can pull herself up to a standing position from anywhere she can hold onto (including my bra strap :-)) and walk while holding onto things. She can even take a few steps on her own. I give it another week or two before she’s completely walking on her own… Yikes.

Linda is playing with blocks and putting them through holes and into slots they belong to. She is eating very well (I let her eat lunch with her hands).

The best thing of all is that she knows who mommy and daddy are. She even knows who she is… she’ll show you by pointing at her belly. Hey if she really likes you, she’ll show you her belly by pulling her shirt up. Go figure.

Of course her great personality is still there and even better. Linda has a sweet disposition. She doesn’t fuss much. She whines a little when she’s out of sorts. Now it’s hard to tell if she’s whining because she’s teething or has an ear infection. That happened to us recently. I thought she was teething on a Friday because she was in a bad mood. She had no fever and not tugging on anything. But Sunday she was in a great mood but all this stuff was coming out of her ears. We ran her to the doctor and she still had no fever… just an infection. She’s better now.

I have to say life as parents is very different than without children. You’re on schedules and you are drained by the end of the day. It’s a good drained, but drained. I sleep well at night now. Bill is great with Linda. He seems to know exactly what kind of playtime Linda wants at what time. Linda loves when he plays with her in the car seat and makes funny sounds. Linda also like when dad dries her off after a bath. And she loves when he carries her places. Bill is also great to me. He gives me the breathing time I need when he comes home so I can deflate before I make dinner. Bill is a great dad and husband.

Let me just finish by saying we had a great Thanksgiving at our friends Mary, Bill and Jinji. Yes their family made a nice dinner for them the day after they came home from China and we got to participate. Jinji is a great baby and I hope Linda and Jinji become life long friends like their parents have become.

Update! Oh we are so bad!

2006-11-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

We have been soooooo bad at posting lately. Please forgive us. You might guess at how difficult it is to raise a child and keep everything else running smoothly. I must say that Mel has been doing an awesome job of mommy. I commend my beautiful wife for doing such a fine job.

In the last couple of weeks we have been quite busy. Last Monday Linda had her first visit to the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland! I had to work, yeah, touch life, and I brought Mel and Linda with me. It was very convenient as we also had a trip to LA to visit Mel's family. Linda had a great time. We hit It's a Small World and I never saw a kids eyes pop out as we floated through the show. She swayed with the music and clapped her hands. We also visited the Tiki Room. Oh, that was just as fun. She sure enjoyed the drummer dudes. We wandered around the park a bit and then we had to head out. No we did not try other rides as it was her first time and we did not want to over stimulate the little munchkin. That night Linda slept like a rock.

The daily routine I will leave to the hard worker of the family, but I will say that it is one busy schedule. My duties start when I get home from work. I just keep Linda busy and distracted until bed time! She is so close to walking it is scary. She holds your fingers and takes off. Once she has that self balance thing going we will not get any rest! In any case even though there are some frustrating moments, it has been a joy to have Linda around.

I will post pictures when I get them processed!

Catch Up!

2006-11-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

We’ve been a little busy. No really, we’ve been a little busy. I know you don’t believe us, but we maintain that we’ve been a little busy.

As an update, Linda visited the doctor and got a clean bill of health on the second visit. Yeah! She has gained 2 pounds and though they said she has not grown, we think she has added an inch or two to her height.

While I’m at work, who knows what Mel and Linda have been up to, but I’m sure it is no good! ;-) Actually Mel has been a terrific Mom as I get home and Linda is pretty much wiped out from the day. Actually, that kid sure has a bunch of energy because I’m worn out from playing with Linda after I’m home! Mel has visited friends, going to play groups, and taking Linda to the park. They go on walks, too. Linda is getting better at being left alone, but the play pen (Pack N Play) is still not high on Linda’s “fun list”. She is only in that when Mel needs to get something done and doesn’t need Linda getting into trouble, e.g. shower time.

Since the last post, we had a good Halloween. No pictures from that day as we did not do much. A Tuesday night is not great for Halloween. We just went to a birthday party yesterday. That was fun. Thanks Joy!

One exciting moment last week was when I received a call from Mel. I was meeting with an electrician and Mel calls sounding serious, but with a sense of excitement. Mel was sitting in the office, the doorway is about 8 feet from Linda’s room, and tells Linda to come on down if she likes. Next think she knows, there’s Linda’s head poking around the corner. This is the first time Linda has ventured down the hall on her own! It is her first time doing the full on crawl, too! My thoughts: “Uh oh. We’re in trouble now!” Linda has gone mobile! Today we took a couple of pictures as she made her way towards the living room! Double Uh Oh!

We are at the point where we needed to add the glass doors to the stereo cabinet for obvious reasons. Here I caught Linda contemplating how to get past this little obstacle. Hmmmm? BTW, pull those pants up!

That’s all for now. We need to go for a walk and let the dog stretch her paws.

The First Week

2006-10-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well this was the first week of Bill back at work and me alone with Linda. She took pretty well to Bill leaving for work. It really didn’t faze her. But when Bill came home in the evening, you could see the look of relief on her face like, “Wow he came back, now let’s rough-house”.

I have to tell you that it’s amazing the feelings you go through in a day. Part of you feels like am I doing enough with Linda, how many times should I repeat that the block is a red circle or is she getting enough exercise. The other part is thinking Oh my gosh, it’s already 5pm and I need to give Linda dinner. But it all works itself out in the end.

We have figured out a pattern with Linda. She is somewhat independent in the mornings. So that means we can take showers and leave her in the “Pack n Play” with some toys and she is self entertaining. I can also do some light cleaning while she is playing with her blocks and other stuff.

In the afternoons she is needy. You need to be in the same room with her and at times on the floor with her. So that’s when we play catch with her first baseball or her talking blocks and of course other toys. This seems to be an easy pattern to work with.

Linda is better at her naps. She naps for about 45mins in the morning and about 1½hrs in the afternoon. I think this also helps getting her down in the evenings.

On Thursday Linda’s Bubby (Grandma) came down for a long weekend. This is the first time they have met. It was pretty much love at first sight. We meet Bubby at the train station and at first Linda gave her the cold stare (this is pretty common) and then looked at me. I gave Linda the okay to be curious nod and said to Linda, “Isn’t this exciting?” When you say that, she does this little shake and puts her fists into the air. It’s really cute. Bubby had a good laugh at that.

Of course we like any good women (and baby girls) do, we went shopping. Mom needed a new pair of tennis shoes. So off to Nordy’s we went. We had a nice lunch there and Linda showed off her great “sitting in restaurants” routine.

Linda had a great time playing and singing with her bubby. It was nice for me between the great basket under Linda’s stroller and bubby pushing the stroller. I had my hands free for the first time in a month… Wow!!! Bubby was a great help.

At the end of the week, Zayde (grandpa) came to meet Linda and pick up bubby. We had a nice visit. Linda had a great time. She didn’t get fussy through the picture taking stuff.

Well that’s it for now. Pictures of the visit will come later.

Special Post! Many Faces of Linda

2006-10-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is a sample of the many faces of Linda. I think this will become a project of mine. It is sooooo damn cool! Mel is loving every bit of it, too! Here you go!

Bates Nut Farm

2006-10-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

One thing nice about having Linda this time of year is the fun! We ran off to Bates Nut farm with our friends Cory and Lena to find pumpkins! We were wondering if it was going to be a good day or not (I am a week behind on this blog!) as it was raining.

Our day started with hair appointments. Mel was due and I had 3 or 4 that were getting out of hand. It was also our chance to show Linda off to our hair dresser. As it turns out Linda enjoys our excursions and she is so good when we do these. The fun and excitement of the salon did not over stimulate Linda and she would wave to patrons and workers as they walked by. It was so cute. Since we had planned on going to the farm I kept close eye on the weather. Sure enough I looked outside and it was pouring! Uh oh. Linda enjoyed watching the rain fall and the drops hit the puddles. All I could think is, “Oh well, maybe next year.” Ugh.

After the hair appointment, we decided to head to North County anyways and at least pay a visit to C & L. Weather still did not look good and it rained as we approached their exit. EEERRRRGH. We hung out and Linda displayed her cuteness as always once she settles into a new place. We decided if we can’t go to the pumpkin patch, we would go to one of them parking lot patches. You might have guessed we were determined to come home with a pumpkin! So, off to lunch we went and our search for Mr. Pumpkin.

Our drive to a patch that Lena had found online was uneventful until we approached the patch. Pumpkins! The sign said so! We drove by and our hearts sang. The place was pretty much cleared out. It was pushing 2pm and we did not want to make a long day of it, but at this point we bit the bullet and headed to Bates anyways! It was cold, but the rain did not get us!

Linda had a field day at Bates Nut Farm. No pun intended. Since the ground was still damp we decided to forgo the stroller and use the Bjorn. Mel took the weight. As we walked by the animal rides and petting corral, Linda was so happy she could not contain herself. She was laughing and giggling everywhere we went. We quickly found a wheel barrow and headed into the fields for the right pumpkin. It took a bit, but Cory and I found a nice 32 pounder with our name on it. We also picked up a couple of smaller ones. FYI, 32 pounds is 25 pounds lighter than the pumpkin Mel and I scored last year, but as we had an extra 20 pounds to carry around with us, the trade off was fine for us!

After more laughing and giggling, we headed back. We did pretty good as we arrived home about an hour later than expected and it did not take much to get Linda fed and cleaned up for bed. We are so glad we made the effort to go to the farm. It was well worth it. Thanks C & L!

Now let’s hope I don’t fall so far behind on the blog!

PS- We enjoyed our Sunday at Dante’s 1^st birthday party. Linda had a good time and I think she learned some lessons from some of the “elders”.

Next: Daddy’s first week back at work & Bubby's visit!

As the Child Develops

2006-10-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been fun and exhausting with the emphasis on the fun. Linda has begun to take to our new sleep routine even though she whines and cries a bit when we put her in her crib. The difficult part is putting her down for naps; we haven’t been able to! Most of her naps come while we are out doing errands and meeting people. The day is the most difficult to get into a routine, but it will come soon as I go back to work on Monday and Mel will need to keep her sanity so a schedule will be had.

We have worked on leaving Linda on the floor while we do some chores. She whines a bit and cries, but in most circumstances she is faking it. She even has the fake tears down. You know she is testing the waters because as soon as you poke your head around the corner she stops and has a big grin on her face! We have also started doing this with the Pack n’ Play. This is for those days when either Mel or I have to do something and don’t want Linda running, crawling, rolling around. We know that it will be soon when we cannot use the PnP, but we will while we have it. Doing these things with an adopted child is actually quite disturbing to us adults as we try to be sensitive to the fact the poor thing was abandoned, grew up in one place, and has been displaced from there to a new environment. We are doing the slow route which seems to be working. Hopefully by next week Linda will be more comfortable with it.

Saturday our friends Bill and Mary visited us and we hit the La Mesa Octoberfest. Linda needed a good drinking party. Oh, um, well, um, oh. NOT! Here it is a big street faire with some music and, yes, a beer garden. We walked around and spent almost 3 hours there. Bill took the record for stranger attempting to hold Linda. I forget how long, but it sure beat the 15 seconds for most strangers!

Yesterday Linda got to meet and play with her new friend Jarrah. A slow start ended in quite a good time for all. We think that this time with Jarrah and her Mom, Sam, helped Linda realize that all is good and the toys we have are actually fun and useful, and that life is not just playing with mommy and daddy and running crazy errands!

Today Linda was perky and very loving and alert. She woke up on the “right side of the bed”! She did not cry and whine when she woke up like usual. The norm has been quite a bit of crying/wailing which indicated to us that she was up for good, while some of the cries and whimpers during the night are something else because she goes back to sleep or has never really awoken. I took advantage of the peaceful wake-up by getting Linda before the crying started, thus allowing Mel to catch a few more winks, snores, or whatever. Everything she did today was just so darned cute. The best was when she was standing at her table toy and swaying to the music!

We also visited my work today. What an impression Linda made on them. She was so well behaved. She showed her serious side upon meeting the folks and showed her cute, adorable, happy side the rest of the time. No fussing except when she was held by others. The longest was maybe 15 seconds before the arms stretched out to Mel or me. Bill, you still hold the record for the longest hold by a stranger! By the end of the visit she had so much fun and excitement she fell asleep in Mel’s arms. It was so cute. Linda’s favorite pastime is showing people how well she stands and attempts to walk. She could do this all day. Of course our old backs would never hold out!

All in all it was a wonderful day. She ate more than normal and at the same time missed one bottle feeding, and she did not complain! Of course this will not become a habit until after 12 months, but it was a good sign that she does not depend on the bottle. Bed time was a little rough, but she went down after Mel made a second appearance to calm her crying. Good night!

Playgroup Day

2006-10-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sleep update (probably the last unless we really have something to say): Well, Linda slept through the night! Yeah! She woke up just before 7am and I went in to get her. For the second time this week, Linda and I joined Mom in bed to wake her up. It is so fun!

Today we headed off to Linda’s first playgroup. We decided that it would be a good thing to get out and have some fun with other kids. The park we went to was very nice and we met up with Anton and Dante, future friends of Linda and children of families we have met over the last year. It was a good time as it was Linda’s debut. Linda enjoyed her time on the swing and really enjoyed “showing off” her standing abilities and desire to walk. She was not too sure of the sand, but that was not a hindrance to fun.

Mel and I have noticed that when Linda first meets people she is in a pseudo-zombie mode. It is quite interesting and in a way nice to know she doesn’t run to just anyone. As she warms to others she begins to show her playful side and that cute smile of hers. As we do these outings we are more aware of how she has attached to us. She knows who mommy and daddy are and she does not let us out of her sight. It is also cute how she has learned to wave with those tiny little hands.

Today we tried a repeat of last night because Mel needs her sushi! So we placed an order to go and when it came time to pick up the food Mel decided to go and see what happens as last night Linda did a mild meltdown when Mel left. Tonight we had no issues whatsoever. The humorous part of the exercise was when Mel returned. Linda started to whine until Mel came into the room to say hi! Wacky!

Other than that we had a good day. Enjoy the pictures!

Linda hangin' out!

Am I cool or what?

I can do it, I know I can.

This swinging stuff is fun, now where does my arm go?

Over-tired & Attachment & Feeding

2006-10-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Linda slept most of the night. We did have one wakeup incident at about 2:30am, but it was minor. Just a little encouragement and a couple of minutes comforting and she was out again. I woke up at about 7:00am to make sure we stay on our schedule.

Today we decided to start Linda on real food so we can get her up to speed with others of her own age. She is still on formula and the doctor agreed that we can start easing her into the food world. Also Linda needs to learn to feed herself, so we need to work on the finger pinching and of course “food play”. She is doing pretty well with the veggie puffs. She either grabs them or uses her index finger and thumb depending on what neurons are firing in that little head of hers. In either case she gets it to her mouth just fine, but once there the firing combination does not say, “Release”, so she sometimes just nibbles at what is visible. There have been a number of successes though, and this evening she actually downed at least 8 of them little suckers without our intervention. We were too busy eating our own dinner!

Lunch was fun. We gave her some mashed potatoes I whipped up the night before. (Yes, I can cook and can’t wait to grill up a nice Tri Tip for her!) With spoon in hand Linda had a field day. Some of the food actually made it to her mouth. In the morning I let her play with a spoon I was using to feed her cantaloupe and she simulated eating and digging with the wrong end. At lunch she was holding the spoon the correct way. She will need some practice on the shoveling and stuffing in mouth part, but she seems to have the drum and fling parts down. It was a blast. It was the first time I think she was able to play with food and it wasn’t too bad. After a hosing down, she was good as new. Well, it was more of a wipe down, but you get the picture.

We did get to the park today. Jackson Park is just around the corner from us. Linda actually seemed to enjoy the swing. Kids like swings. She also enjoyed the attempts at walking. This is a fun game we play, but it sure is hard on daddy’s back! I swear this little kid will be walking pretty soon. If we can only get her to sit up on her own we will be on to something. Adopted children seem to have this issue and may never crawl, so one day she may just pull herself up and take off!

This evening was pretty interesting. Actually it occurred throughout the day; Linda did not like being in a room alone. She would whine and cry. A little regression from the last couple of days it appears. This evening a neighbor stopped by and dropped off a card for us. Nice man. After he left, Mel ran out to pick up our dinner from the Mexican place just up the street from us. (She was craving cheese enchiladas which are hard to come by in China.) As soon as she was out the door Linda started to whine and cry. She was sitting in my lap and we were “reading” a book when this occurred. I was amazed that she even knew that Mel was gone. I had to pick her up and walk around with her. I knew she wasn’t hungry since we had just finished feeding her. I was at a loss. The carrying seemed to help the most. Playing did not do much whatsoever. We are going to keep and eye on this behavior and see if it is something we are encouraging or if she is “using” it to gather more attention. Of course it is too early to tell. It may be due to being a bit tired as we continue to “force” the schedule on her.

As for tired, we are attempting to keep that schedule and tonight we started a routine of slow down a bit, bottle, PJs, a book reading, and soft snuggle time. Our target is to put her down by 7:30pm. Today Linda had her two naps, but they were very short. This may be the cause of the tired and cranky stage of the evening. Anyways, we started the routine and it was going pretty good. She got all happy and playful after getting her PJs on. Ok, this is partly our fault as she was like that in China, but tonight we “ignored” her attempts at “hard” play. Reading the book, Goodnight Moon, is a challenge as she wants to hold and play with it. Once complete, we sat on either side of her on the couch and told her how much we loved her and just let her roll and tumble around us a bit. We did not encourage any play. Just before 7:30pm we picked her up and told her, “Night night time.” We placed her in the crib and she whined a bit with a bit of a fake cry. She did the customary rolling around with the whine. (No cheese with it, though.) I stepped back and sat on the floor after saying goodnight and see you in the morning; Amber came in and sat next to me. Mel took the lead of a couple more soft caresses and a final “I love you” and stepped back. In a couple of minutes, Linda was quiet. I moved out of the room and Mel was right behind me. So far so good, so cross your fingers we have a full nights sleep!

An exhausting day for us all and tomorrow will be just as fun! Goodnight!

PS- No we have not taken more pictures. It has been work enough trying to keep our lives going. I plan on taking some pictures over the next couple of days as we begin to do a bit more outings.

The Doctor’s Visit

2006-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sleep update: All night! 7:30pm to 6:30am! That’s two nights in a row now.

We all have been through the first doctor visit. Those who have adopted know that the first doctor’s visit also can be quite and experience for these little ones, especially when they have procedures that are normally conducted on newborns!

Today was Linda’s first visit here in the good ole US of A. If the quick medical exam in Guangzhou was any indication, this was going to be quite interesting. Off we went to visit the doc! BTW (that’s By The Way for new readers that do not know the acronyms, i.e. the old folk….), since Sunday we have not had the car seat melt down (CSMD). Linda was back to normal riding in the car. She was asleep about half way there! Once we found the place we were right on time and we were called in to begin the fun.

For those curious, Linda is 29 ½ inches long and weighs 19lbs 4oz without clothes. Yep, the first time she was weighed nekked. So far so good; she usually begins crying when the clothes start coming off. The real fun began when the doc started to check her out which meant holding her down for the ear check and such. She began to howl when that started. She did not cry during the eye testing, but she was not happy about it and would not look at the monitor. She preferred to squirm and I held her hand away from the probes stuck to her head. Very high tech I'd say. Not long after than came two shots. Oh, that was just the tip of the iceberg for crying, but we knew this was going to be a fun outing.

After the questions were asked and the preliminary check was clean with a mild yeast infection which we are treating it was off to the next stop, Scripps Hospital. We had to hit the lab where they drew blood. Ear plugs are a must the next time we do this! The blood work is to check and make sure there is nothing really wrong with her and to see what vaccines have been given her and to verify the Chinese immunization chart that we received. The nurse who drew the blood was quite nice and did a good job, it was just hard work keeping Linda still and comforting her. She screamed like a banshee! My ears continue to ring from that. We figured the rest of the day would be payback for the hell we put her through! Once we left and settled in the car, Mel fed her some food and Linda quieted down quickly. She was asleep when we got home.

The rest of the day was very boring. Lunch, play, play, snack, bottle, and nap. We bought a toy that can be used sitting, standing, or kneeling. Linda so wants to walk its quite amazing, so we got this toy that plays music and has the different shapes and textures. This seems to be the typical children’s toy of today. Linda does prefer paper and water bottles over these high tech gadgets, but it does humor her enough. After dinner we were sitting at this toy Linda pulled herself up twice from my lap to a standing position while I steadied the toy! She could not do it while sitting on the floor, but she sure did give it a try.

We are easing her into real people food now. We have some of the Gerber’s stage 3 foods which are a bit chunkier than the other ones. She likes them! She does not eat a whole lot, but at least she will eat it. We plan on trying other foods that we will eat ourselves and cut into small pieces for her. Soon we will be working on getting her to feed herself. This will take time, though, as she has never done this before. She will make the attempts with veggie puffs and at times succeed, but in general she is helpless right now. Like I said, it shouldn’t take too long and the mess will begin. Amber, the doggie, can’t wait for this stage. Talk about a feeding frenzy! I joked to a neighbor I am about ready to Teflon coat the walls and floors.

Now Linda is asleep. We still are trying to find the best method of putting the little one down. Any suggestions would be quite helpful! I have a feeling she will not sleep through tonight, but that is alright, it was quite a traumatic day. Tomorrow: Costco!

Good Night!

The First Days Home

2006-10-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Home. It’s good to be home. How have we faired these first couple of days? Let me count the hours of missed sleep! I’ll recap the first 3 nights as our little Linda still is adjusting to Pacific Daylight Time.

Midnight. Wake up! Linda woke up at approximately 12 midnight and would be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She was very playful. Well, it’s 3pm in China, so it made sense. The first night she was up for about an hour as we decided we would take turns if she went longer; Mel stayed with her. They played a bit and Linda rolled on the floor. Away from Mel, back to Mel, away from Mel, and back again. Eventually she nodded off.

Night two was even better, as she woke up at 12 midnight once again. This time she was up for 2 hours. This time we both played with her on the floor. We just went with the flow as nothing seemed to work. Once back to sleep she was out.

On night three she was up at, you guessed it, 12 midnight. This time she must have been frightened of something or just plain did not know where she was. She did not want to have anything to do with me this time. Very interesting it was. In this case Mel got the honors of holding her and we all ended up in the living room. Mel played with her on the couch and I sat and read a book. I did all the “errands” of the evening; if something was needed, I fetched it. It worked out very well. Two and a half hours later she was asleep.

As we discussed, the weekend was “over” and it was time to get the kid on a schedule that matched our time zone. I did the honors of waking Linda up at 7am Monday morning. Yep, that was the morning after 2 ½ hours of Linda time. Linda did not really know what was happening and actually woke up pretty well. She was tired and just a bit out of it. I’ll elaborate on the days in a bit, but what we did on Monday worked pretty well. Other than a 9pm phone call that woke her up, she slept the whole night. Today I woke her at just before 7am. We hope she makes it tonight, too.

As for our days together, Linda has been a little princess except for Sunday afternoon. This was the most traumatic day. We set off to the mall to pick up a couple of items. A “quick” trip and figured that Linda did well in the morning riding in the car seat in the back seat alone. This is also the second time in her new stroller. All was going well until we got back to the car. She lost it! She began to bawl. Oh, can this girl let loose with the screams. Since it was only a couple of minutes drive to get home we went for it. Well, she cried so hard and loud she puked right at the end! OMG it was amazing. Once home and walked around, she calmed down and was good. That was it.

Fast forward to today. No problem in the car seat or stroller! I don’t know what set her off that time, but we are going to do the couple of days with someone in the back with her and then to the alone ride. We need this because Mel will have to do errands while I am at work. We hope to change her from rear facing to forward facing soon. We are doing the recommendation of rear facing for children younger than 12 months, but I think we will change sooner as she is a bigger baby and seems to have decent muscle control.

I found it quite interesting to watch Linda develop from Friday’s arrival through today. She was unsure about the house and the people. Saturday she was a bit more comfortable, but we could not leave the room without her whining. Sunday, other than the above experience, she was more comfortable with the house and the fact that we were not going anywhere. We could leave her with some toys and leave the room, but not stray too far. Monday and today we were able to leave her with the toys and leave the room and go to another room. She would put out a screech at times, and then laugh. She also likes it when we come out from around a corner. She puts on this great big grin and sometimes adds a giggle.

Out in public she is wary of her surroundings as expected and also of strangers. We met neighbors down the street and she went into that blank stare mode, yet she would respond positively towards me or Mel. We let the lady hold her and within a minute Linda was turning around reaching for one of us. You might say we are experiencing good bonding mojo. Linda responds to either of us equally. I could be holding her and then she would reach for mom, and then vise versa.

Other than our time change issues and lack of sleep, we are doing pretty darn well. We think we may accept casseroles beginning Thursday. (Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge)

Let’s hope for a peaceful night tonight! Later!

Picture Gallery of Homecoming

2006-09-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

We made it through our first night home without too much of a problem Linda fell asleep about 8pm last night. She was so uneasy about the whole transplant thing, but she finally fell asleep. At around midnight she started to fuss (love the baby monitor!) so we checked on her. She did fall asleep without a bottle, so we knew she had to be hungry; we fed her. Mel and I discussed the plan and she took the first shift and I went back to bed. We both thought that she may be on China-time, so we expected some oddities in hours. The next thing I know is I am up about 8am with Mel sleeping and no sounds from the baby's room. Wow! Linda woke up at about 9am this morning!

Today was good. Linda was quite relieved that we were still here and not much has changed. I had her fed and diaper changed while Mel slept away the morning. At about 10:30 Linda and I decided to wake mom up, so off to the bedroom. Linda and I sat down and watched Mel sleep which was too much for Linda; she started to laugh! Mel woke up with a smile as dad and Linda were right there . Mel told me that they were up for about an hour before Linda nodded off again. Now that was a good night.

Here's a gallery of some photos taken when we came home yesterday. Enjoy!
We arrived quite tired, but still vertical.
Let me go! Let me go! Where am I?
Wow it's bright here! Where the heck am I?

Just out of the car where she fell asleep. I know I will be wasting a lot of gas in the future to make her sleep. This is also her first sight of the dog, Amber.

Still not sure of the dog, nor is Amber sure about the kid!

Send your own caption!

Good night!

Time To Go Home

2006-09-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day in Linda’s life. Time to head to her permanent home with Mel and myself. From our last post you know we had a little issue getting Linda down and the night was pretty uneventful until about 4:00am. She became a little whiny so I got up and talked with her and stroked her hair to sleep the last half hour or so before real wake-up time. I wanted to do as much as possible so Mel could sleep as much as possible since her cold made it difficult for her to sleep. (Now that is one run-on sentence!) We got up at 4:45am as our check-on bags had to be outside at 6am and we were on the bus by 7am. I checked out, returned the Panda phone, and we had breakfast. Linda was still a bit fussy since it was a bit early.

Guangzhou airport is big. It is clean. It is pretty easy to get through though it would have been helpful getting there a half hour earlier. We had to stand in the checking line for a bit. Three lines and it became a little contest to see who would get through first. Our single mom and her mother got stuck. For some reason they could not find Grandma’s assignment in the system. They did find it finally. Phew. We all pretty much got on the plane at the last minute.

Hong Kong has a mighty big airport. After arriving on Chine Southern, we had to exit and transfer to Cathay Pacific. One family arrived to the transfer counter before the other 3. We slackers almost got to the counter before the first family got through! When they left the counter we gave them an ovation. Mel and I pulled a winner by walking to the gate when we find out later there was a train that ran there. We were tired and my shoulders were hurting after carrying Linda such a long distance. What are we, nuts? Being that we were going to be on a 12 hour flight, we thought the walk was justified. Since the US is being the US we had to go through another security check right at the gate! They made us toss Linda’s water. We boarded a 747-400 which was much more comfortable than the 747 we took going.

The flight was tough on Mel. She never really could sleep on planes and with the cold it complicated things. She did take care of the dirty work changing Linda and getting the fixin’s together for feeding. I had the easy job of sitting there and holding Linda and having Linda sleep on me. For some reason I was the pillow of choice and with my luck we estimated that Linda slept at least half of the trip! Talk about luck.

We arrived at LAX and got through immigration and customs without a hitch. Then came the worst part of the trip; we had to stand in line for our boarding passes. This line was not overly long and it moved like molasses. On top of it there was this couple with two boys that kept pushing their cart into me. It was a pain, and then they left the line. Go figure. We finally get through and now our flight is delayed due to weather! We departed at 3:30pm instead of the 2:30pm scheduled flight.

Linda has been on 3 plane flights before this one without any issue. Well, our luck ran out on the commuter flight from LAX to SAN. Linda was asleep when we boarded the little plane and was doing fine until the engines started and the cabin was pressurized. Instant wailing! Oh, talk about the embarrassment and classic parent moment when it comes to air travel. She would not suck on her sippy cup nor chew on a veggie puff. Just prior to take-off she stopped and fell back to sleep. The flight was fine and sure enough on decent about to land she begins to wail again! Conclusion: no more small plane flights for her.

When we arrived at the gate of the commuter terminal my Dad and Ellen were there waiting along with a surprise from our friends Jack and Carol. Oh the picture taking session began. It was nice since we have not had time to take many pictures in the last two days. Hopefully we will be posting a few in the next couple of days.

At home we finally found a little relief. Home. What a fine feeling. Linda was not too sure of the whole thing though she did enjoy her first car ride in a car seat. The strangeness of the place was bothering her along with the stress of being moved once again. Amber, our doggie, was taking everything in stride and came up to Linda and kissed her. Needless to say Linda did not like that one bit as it is probably the first time she ever saw a dog. The rest of the evening she was wary of Amber and when around would just stare. I think she will come around soon. We had a nice dinner that Ellen prepared and got some food into Linda. Dad and Ellen took off for the motel to let us settle down. Linda fell asleep just before 8pm and we hope will be a good night, but being in a strange house and a strange room does not bode well.

We hope to get some sleep now and start a new day at home with our new family.

Later!

Consulate and then Some

2006-09-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

What a fine night. We made it through the night without incident once again. The bummer part is Linda just fell asleep 10 minutes ago: 9:15pm. We have to get up at 4:30am and have our bags ready by 6am tomorrow. We are in soooooo much trouble as we feel Linda will not be a happy camper. This forebodes a long flight. No optimism here.

As for today, we had a pretty good start, and then we saw what looked to be dried blood in her left ear. Mel began the concerned mother mode. We cleaned the little bit up and did not see much else. After a good breakfast and noticing that Linda was not concerned or bothered by anything, we had time before the temple trip to check a store we wanted to go visit. Once outside, Linda turned her head and Mel saw the ear and almost went into panic mode. In the light it looked pretty bad and really baffled us. So much for the temple trip; we headed to the Holt office (yes, they have an office in the hotel) and told Catherine. Mel was obviously concerned since we fly out tomorrow, so an appointment at the clinic was quickly set up. We finished our trip to the store before the appointment.

Mel and I were both very concerned and continued to be baffled as there was no sign of anything at all prior to this morning. At the clinic Linda entertained the staff and was measured and weighed. Linda showed them how she is trying to walk, etc. The doctor was quite nice and we explained the situation. I had the honor of holding Linda’s head while the doc swabbed the ear. Oh, Linda told us she was not very happy. After the cleanup, it turned out that Linda had a scratch that was just inside the ear, not the canal, and was a little infected. The doctor let Mel look and he showed her how the ear was clear and clean. What a relief! We can fly! Catherine was amused on how happy Melissa was and pleased that we were able to appease her. Mommy needed the extra vote of confidence.

We arrived at the hotel just in time for lunch, so we decided to head over to Lucy’s. It was good. As we have been informed it is one of the few places that serve “western” cuisine. Linda enjoyed her mashed potatoes. We had a good time and relaxed after the morning’s ordeal.

This afternoon was our trip to the US Consulate where we received Linda’s visa. The consulate office is next to the new train station and was a 30 minute bus ride. Leave it up to the US government to put a consulate office near a public transportation depot. We arrived with 57 other families to take our oath and receive visas for our daughters, and I think I saw at least one son. I watched as the others arrived, and I may be biased here, but Holt seemed to have a very well organized way of doing business. The oath was basic swearing that we filled out all forms as truthful to our knowledge, and then we waited for our brown envelopes and passports for the little ones. All was good and off we went back to the hotel. No pictures are available as the US Consulate does not allow cameras or phones or anything that is not essential to baby within the facility. Today turned into a no picture day. Bummer.

We are all packed, mostly, and ready to go. I will get very little sleep and Mel just nodded off. It will be a wild and wacky morning and one long flight back. We are due in San Diego sometime around 3:30 or so in the afternoon. We so look forward to coming home. See you soon!

BTW, we want to thank you all for you wonderful comments. They were all quite helpful. We will continue to blog our experiences as Linda grows and may add elaborative posts of things during the trip that we may wish to divulge after we return.

Good Night!

School Day, Shopping, & BBQ

2006-09-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Another uneventful night! We must be lucky, and I bet that changes soon. Linda woke up about an hour early, so I played the sneaky dad and picked her up, paced a bit, and then lay down with Linda on my chest. It worked; she fell right to sleep again and squeezed another hour out of her! Payback was not as bad as I thought it would be, but there was a little tonight as she did take a little bit to get her asleep tonight. Needless to say, this trip isn’t too bad since we are getting some sleep.

Today was very “busy” as we chose to take the optional trip to the school down the road. We visited a class and those kids were sharp and quite excited to see us. It was a 5^th grade class and they have been learning English, so this was part of their study and test to see how well they did. We had a blast. At first we were divided into sections so a family had about 7 children to ask questions and in turn be interrogated. Yes, there were more boys than girls, but not as bad as you may think. This little session was quite interesting as the boys really liked the sports talk, either about basketball or football (soccer), and the girls were not too interested in that. Both were quite good with Linda who soaked up as much attention as she could stand.

When we completed the classroom session the children got to show us their school. I must say that it was one nice place. The classroom we started in was pretty Spartan until you notice the little computers built into the desk and the pull-up section for the monitor. Their main classroom had desks very similar to what I remember and they were grouped in 4s or 5s. We had the opportunity to watch the classes come out and do their mid-morning exercises. Their library was not bustling with books, but it was stocked pretty well and nicely laid out. Then the kids were so excited to show us the “animals”, so we trekked up the stairs, 6 levels from my count, onto the roof. There they had plants growing and on one corner had some animals! A monkey, a goat, an emus or ostrich (I can’t tell the difference), some chickens, and a couple of other critters I did not get a close look at. The garden had a variety of plants. These kids get a pretty good all round education from what I could see. Before we left, two boys just had to show the swimming pool. It was a 3 lane pool, enclosed, and pretty well maintained. All 3 boys claimed they could swim the length of it at what I guess to be 25 meters in length. Phew, too bad they don’t have AC because we were sweating profusely from running up and down stairs!

We spent some time walking up and down some streets and doing some shopping. It looks like
we will be heading back to a couple of places since I did not have the cash on me when we went browsing. There are some incredible prices to be had around here and I bet if we were able to take time and travel a bit further away from the hotel it would be much better. Alas, we will have to stick with our local area do to time constraints. We leave early Friday morning and we have a trip to a Buddhist Temple tomorrow morning and our trip to the US Consulate for Linda’s visa!

Before dinner we had the Holt customary group photo by the red couches located in the hotel. We dressed Linda in a dress we acquired in Nanchang. The other girls were also dressed similarly. Oh, how darling they all were. We definitely had a nice batch of children. (Bias, I am.)

The highlight of the day was the Holt BBQ at the restaurant by the pool. Here you select your choice of meat and/or vegetables to be grilled and they grill it up. Not a bad fair. The fun was when you finished or close to finishing a wait person would swoop in and take your plate. On one occasion I had gotten up for another round and left a small plate with cantaloupe all cut up for Linda. Mel was feeding something to Linda and they swooped in and snatched the plate. I had to get another slice of cantaloupe for her. Amazing! They tried a second time, but everyone at the table stopped them. At the beginning of the meal, they brought out these little dishes of steamed eggs of which we decided not to feed to Linda until we returned home. At first we had two at our table as we had two children. I came back from the buffet and we had another one and I was informed they had to turn down two others! What’s with the steamed eggs?! Towards the end I was finishing up my salad and I had maybe two bites left when staff came by and asked if I was finished. Jeez, can’t a guy finish what’s on his plate? As soon as I had taken the last bite, I commented, “Now they can take my plate.” Sure enough, the plate vanished. Amazing! This annoying sequence happened all through dinner and turned into a joke. At least we enjoyed what was served.

Have a great day, all. We can’t wait to be home!

Paperwork, Pictures, Medical & Fun

2006-09-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

Linda, Linda, Linda. I sit here with a bottle of Jack and Coke. You read that right. We hit the 7-Eleven for some simple stuff and I saw this bottle of premixed Jack and Coke. I’ve never saw that before, but I digress….

Linda had an interesting sleep last night. Three times she woke up with a little whiny type cry. I would get up and rub her chest or stroke her hair, and once held her little hand. She immediately went back to sleep. This told me she never really woke up fully, but was like in that half awake state. Other than disrupting me sleep and Mel’s, who was already having a tough time with the cold, Linda had a pretty good sleep overall. She was up about 5:30am which is pretty much right on schedule for her.

We had a nice breakfast and met Susan and Jim who adopted a waiting child and you may know through the FCC. Molly, their recent addition is very cute. They also brought Hailey along, whom they adopted 4 or 5 years ago. She is 7 years old and very outgoing.

I drew the short straw and got to do the paperwork meeting while Mel got to go get the visa photo session. We actually had a pretty good time in the paperwork session as everyone would chide each other on what mistakes we made. This session was only just over an hour as Holt had us pre-fill out the paperwork before we even traveled. Our poor Holt representative had fun as some of the instructions changed slightly because there were 4 different provinces that she had to cover in one group. We all managed to get through it and we all have our fingers crossed we didn’t miss something the US Consulate will not like.

11:00am and we head off for the visa medical exam. Mel was treated with a free, yes free, stroller rental from the laundry place earlier, and I received help from Hailey on the walk over to the medical offices. Our exam went just fine. No obvious problem with our little one, her weight is still about 20 pounds, but she has grown 2cm! She is now 72cm long! Linda was a trooper through the ordeal. The only time she cried was when she had to drop trow and get checked out. This cry lasted about as long as the doctor check her belly, heart, and make sure everything was in place, if you know what I mean. That was it. Done. We headed back to the hotel.

Mel was craving Mac n’ Cheese, so a call to Danny’s was made and we ate good. We watched a little TV. and played with Linda. All day Linda seemed to be a little needy. She had minor fits here and there while we are in the room, and seemed to squirm more when held. This could also be her trying to become more mobile. We wanted her to nap, but that was not going to happen. Crazy kid.

This afternoon we took a trip to the Pearl and Jade markets a short bus trip away. We wandered the Jade market a bit. Some very beautiful stuff was to bee seen. We ended up buying a jade bangle for Linda which we plan on giving to her on a future birthday. On hindsight it was a little fun bargaining with a wholesaler. To kill the rest of the time, we crossed the street and entered the pearl market. We were beat, so I hung with Linda while Mel took a quick walk around one floor of the market. The jade market was 5 levels and a long block. The pearl market looked to be 7 levels and setup like an indoor mall.

Once we returned to the hotel we made our for mentioned 7-eleven trip. On the way back another couple asked us about this Danny’s place. Then Paul from another family we told about the place saw us and asked us for more information. We have become the information source for laundry and food. By the time we got back to our room 3 families were planning an order from Danny’s. Thanks to you all who did the reconnaissance mission earlier this year! When things settled down, our phone rang and another family asked about where we were having our laundry done. We chose Susan’s, btw. I answered the phone, “Bill’s Bait and Beer”, and the guy was laughing at the other end. His name is Bill, too.

Once this little party ended, we had time to bathe Linda. She is now quite content to sit with one of us in the tub and play with the stacking cups. (Another good call, gang!) She whimpered a little with the head wetting and rinsing, but overall it was a successful bath. While waiting for the time to pass I need to exchange some cash to pay for said laundry and prepare for the next day, so I headed to the lobby. Mel entertained Linda, who once again was in needy mode. Oh, we are not be talking about being held needy, just plain be in the room needy. A bit of retraining between Nanchang and here I guess. We proceeded to prepare and feed Linda who was showing signs of hunger and we were trying to hit the “regularly scheduled time” mark. A feeble attempt at some order in her life, but worth the effort. Guess what? Linda fell asleep while sucking down the bottle. It must have been right at the end as she did finish the bottle. Poor thing must have been wiped out from her two days of over-stimulation.

Now it is time for Mel and I to unwind and get this stuff posted! Sorry, no pictures today as we did not have the urge or drive to carry the camera. I guess this tells you how tired we really are and we can’t wait to get home. Tomorrow is our exit meeting with Holt and group picture at the red couch, and a BBQ at the pool! We will get pictures for you on those! Have a great day!

PS: Congrats to all who have just received their match! We are very excited for you!

Trip to Guangzhou

2006-09-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry readers for missing a day of blogging. We had a very uneventful trip from Nanchang to Guangzhou; pretty amazing if you ask me. Don’t ask, please. Our day was filled with a trip to pick up Linda’s passport. All members of the family had to attend so we can be sized up. Actually, they wanted to see if our pictures matched on the Adoption Registration. That’s the red book which we received a week prior. Can you believe we have been parents for a week now! Wow!

At the hotel we had to make sure our bags for check on were ready for pickup at 2:30pm and we had to be ready to hit the bus to the airport at 3:20pm. Linda was quite wary of the situation. She could tell that something was up and we knew it could be a long day since there will be more change in her life. Off to the airport we went!

The flight was quite comfortable and we were surprised to find out that a little “meal” was served for a flight that was just over and hour in length. Linda was showing off her moves at the airport. She so wants to walk, but just doesn’t have the balance or the strength just yet. We are in sooooo much trouble in a few months. On the plane she was quite interested in everything tray or latched. She even tested the window for sturdiness. Good girl! When served our snack Mel did all she could to keep the poor gentleman next to her safe from wandering hands. Linda loves the water bottle. Who needs toys when you have a partially filled water bottle! After I was done, it was all I could do to keep Linda’s hands out of Mel’s snack. Oye! We finally began our decent into Guangzhou and not soon enough as Linda was becoming quite miffed at being cooped up for such a long time. Darn it, she did not sleep. Once on the ground and luggage collected wouldn’t you know she was passed out cold. Ugh, now we will have trouble putting her down for real. Another Oye!

We are staying at the White Swan Hotel of which some of you are quite familiar. What a place! It is beautiful. This is definitely a 5 star hotel. Of course I am a bit perturbed that I have to pay for internet access when at the Gloria in Nanchang it was free, but I will get over it. Errrrrrrrr. Anyways, we got to our room and scored, once again, a king size bed and a wonderful view. We are 3 for 3 on king sized beds. Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the flight in we were in row 6! We were so beat. Our flight arrived at 6:30pm and we got to the hotel about 7:30pm and in the room and somewhat settled a little after 8:00pm. Linda was bouncing off the walls. We ordered room service we were so tired and it was worth every penny. It was that good. Ravioli and French Onion Soup. Yum. Linda continued to bounce off walls. She was also quite needy, so the trip and change was making her uneasy. After many attempts to tire her out, and she was over-tired now, we finally gave in and put her in the crib. It took about another half hour before she finally passed out. We are talking 10pm now. Mel picked up a cold so she was really out of it and I knew she was not going to sleep well either. Will we make it through the night?

Good night.

The People’s Park

2006-09-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

Today we took a trip to the People’s Park. It is similar to a Central Park in that many people go here to hang out. It was very interesting to see so many people congregate in a single place. Some were doing traditional Chinese dance and some were doing dance similar to ballroom dancing. Others were doing their Tai Chi. There were ponds were kids where feeding the fish. An amusement area towards the back had rides similar to carnival rides. Some elderly folk were playing instruments and having a good time. Children were running around with their parents and grand-parents. Family fun was had by all.

The amazing thing was how friendly the people were. Being Americans with Chinese children we drew the looks of many. Some of them even practiced their English on us. The talk of the granny patrol was known long before our trip and you wouldn’t believe it until you were in the middle of it. We never did get reprimanded for “not covering” our child, but we did get the “beautiful” and “very pretty” from them. As our Linda is large for her age, we got the “very healthy” comments from a few. The best one I thought of the day was from an elderly lady who told us how smart Chinese girls are. It was pretty funny. Even our guide got a chuckle out of that one.

The other highlight of the morning occurred while we were resting on a wall before leaving. Linda has the drive and wants to walk. With support she makes the motions for walking. Today she actually was doing quite well. It won’t be too much time before we have a little motor baby running around. One family still can’t believe that Linda is only 9 months old!

Back at the room we played with Linda and she took a good healthy nap. This time when she awoke, she did a little yelp, but no crying. She did want to be held right away and would not let us put her down for awhile. Not bad, I’d say. We took a walk down the street and checked out the shops along a “walking” street. This is a street blocked to all vehicular traffic lined with shops. Today people were out in force. As with the park, people would turn and look at us as we strolled by. It is weird being the center of attention and in some cases Linda soaked up the extra attention.

For dinner the staff arranged a group dinner at the same place we had lunch yesterday! Woohoo! On the bus back from the park, they asked if we would like to have a group dinner, and everyone was all into it. Then they mentioned a family that had eaten there already and asked if it was all right. We responded with two thumbs up and the others in the group were surprised we had wandered to a place on our own. Of course we confessed that we had assistance from one of our guides yesterday. After dinner one family agreed this was some of the best food we’ve had on this trip.

Well, Linda is asleep now and Mel is watching the tube. We are getting ready for our trip to Guangzhou tomorrow. Actually tomorrow we pick up Linda’s passport in the morning and we travel in the afternoon. We arrive in Guangzhou in the early evening. This starts the last leg of our trip which will consist of more paperwork! It also will be interesting to see how Linda responds to yet another new environment and her first plane flight. We’ll let you know how it goes!

Goodnight!

Saturday at the Tengwang Pagoda

2006-09-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Our day started out without incident. Linda slept through the night as always and woke up right on time. She appears to be fine after yesterdays little episode.

Only 2 more days in Nanchang and we went to visit the Tengwang Pagoda. To the people of Nanchang and the Jiangxi province, this is a very special place. Originally built in 680, the pagoda has been rebuilt 29 times. I guess if you are that old you need a face lift every so often. Mostly it has been rebuilt due to some destruction, usually fire. The latest rebuild has it mostly made of concrete, but it sure is one nice structure. The Pagoda is walking distance from the hotel, so the group marched off at 9:30am. Of course, by the time we get there, about 5 minutes, Linda was just dozing off. Go figure.

We walked the “yard” around the pagoda. There were reflection ponds and statues. Some ponds had coy (sp?) swimming around like mad as children fed them. We found out that it is about 50 Yuan a day to visit and residence of Nanchang can pay 80 Yuan for a year round pass. It is a pleasant place to be.

As I mentioned, Linda missed most of it sleeping and we did our best to keep her out of the sun. She will not wear her hat. Nope. Nada. She refuses in every way imaginable. I guess it is because the hat did not match her attire. Oh, boy, here we go! There are statues around the pagoda that are of the Chinese zodiac. We had to get our picture taken by the rooster as this is Linda’s sign.

At the top of the pagoda we were treated to a performance of Chinese dance and music. After the “main” performance there was a special performance for our group. Using traditional Chinese instruments they played Swaney (sp?) River which cracked me up. I doubt they were mocking us, but it sure is funny to think this is how we are perceived. Everyone is different. When we are out and about I wear my Tilley hat. To the locals it looks like a cowboy hat.

After we left the pagoda, we ate at a restaurant that is right near the entrance. It came highly recommended by our hosts. Most food here in Nanchang and the Jiangxi province is hot and spicy, so our host wrote down some dishes that would not be flaming. The wait staff had fun with Linda and we enjoyed our meal. It must have been the best on the trip yet.

We returned to the hotel and spent time with Linda. We gave her a bath, of which she is slowly becoming accustomed. We lay on the bed with her and play. Our hidden motive is to tire her out for her afternoon nap. This seems to become a chore these last two days. Finally we got her tired enough and put her down.

Like yesterday, she did not like to wake up from said nap. Today she managed to roll onto her belly when she woke up. She did not scream like yesterday, but she definitely was frightened and started crying. It took a bit to calm her down, but once relaxed and her afternoon bottle was downed, she is back to being the happy playful Linda. Fascinating. Of all the toys, which we did not bring many, the water bottle has become this afternoon’s favorite. Kind of makes you chuckle.

That’s all for now. Take a look at yesterday’s posting as I have uploaded pictures of our trip to the village.

A Bonding Type of Day

2006-09-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

A very uneventful day. Well, if you call going to a local village uneventful. I really did not catch the name of the village. It was over an hours drive to get there. It was warm and muggy. The road that looked well maintained shook the living daylight out of us, and almost breakfast. Though it sounds remote, the village is really not very far outside of Nanchang; an hour or so depending on traffic and road conditions. (There was road construction that narrowed to two lanes, one in each direction.) The countryside is very nice. Green. You may have heard from “propaganda”, lots of rice paddies. Yes, Jiangxi province is an agricultural province, and rice is the main staple. September the rice is close to harvest so many of the paddies glistened in golden waves as the breeze blew across them.

We turned off the main road and came to a stone arch where we disembarked from the bus. I should write a blog on Chinese traffic and drivers someday. Our guide in Beijing gave us the low-down on drivers’ licenses there, but I digress. The arch has writing on either side and marked the entrance to the village. The village is over 1200 years old! The people are ancestors of the original inhabitants, a young man who escaped from war and wanted to start anew. The family did quite well for themselves and the village grew. We walked among the houses. Saw how these people lived and how they still live today. It is amazing the mix between tradition and technology. We saw no electrical for this place, yet we did see motor-bikes and cars come through. Their main source of water is a well that still exists today. You can look in and see the water 30 feet down. The structures are all built of wood and mud bricks. You can see where repairs are made and where other areas are not kept up. It was a step back in time. We met a man, 91, and his wife, 87. I believe they have been married at least 70 years. We saw children. We saw some women playing Mahjong. For a seemingly poor village, it felt prosperous. It is difficult to describe, but prosperous is the proper word.

I know this is more than you really want to read as I have not mentioned Linda once, till now. As a trooper, Linda slept most of the way there on the bus. The sun and heat did not agree with her, but she did enjoy meeting the people of the village. At one point I was sitting next to an elderly lady from the village while I fed Linda. Others were there and you could tell they were talking about her. Smiles all around. We took a break by a huge tree that supposedly has been there since the beginning of the village. Linda had to show off her new found love of trying to stand on her own and make attempts at walking. She was all giggles here in the shade and the breeze. On the bumpy way back to the city, Linda fell asleep once again. It is almost a natural instinct to shut down and conserve energy until later.

Back at the hotel room Linda was as chipper as ever. She was all into her new game. While sitting up, I would give her a little push with my finger in the chest. She falls back and laughs. Non-stop fun and games! I found her ticklish spot, so now I have a weapon to use on her for later. I had to leave for a paperwork checking session. Linda and Mel continued to play. Basically we took advantage of the slow afternoon and began to get some good bonding time in. Mel took some clothes that were too small for Linda down the hall to unload and I began to try and get Linda to calm down for her afternoon nap. This took quite and effort, but finally I managed to get her asleep. About a half hour into her nap, Linda shot out a hell of a scream and started to bawl. I picked her up and held her close to calm her. Once calmed, she held out her hands to Mel, who took her and cuddled her. Linda must have had one hell of a dream. Some nightmare? Who knows.

At dinner, Mel and I noticed that Linda was back to her playful self with a little bit of a different twist. There was a point during our eats and she didn’t want any more big people food, she turned to me and spontaneously reached. I leaned down and she gave me a hug from her high chair, release, and continued playing along. While playing she would watch Mel, and then me, and back to Mel. It felt like she has come to realize we are not going away.

After dinner back in the room it was time for feeding. I had stepped out with a neighbor to pick some stuff up at the shop across the way. Oh, that would be Tiffany’s! When I got back, Mel told me she could not feed her yet, as she was not happy when Mel left the room to prepare the bottle. This is a first. And, during her play, Mel said that Linda turned around and held her arms out, Mel leaned over, and Linda gave her a hug and a pat. Could this be some positive bonding action?

Of course, both Mel and I are a bit uneasy about Linda sleeping through the night now. Whatever woke her this afternoon was not pleasant. We did our routine to put her down, but Linda was so restless. It took a bit to calm her down. Finally she fell asleep.

As I write this, Linda has been turning and moving quite a bit. I feel her sleep is not as deep as it has been. We will see soon enough. Good night all!

Shopping at Tiffany's

2006-09-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you what a dose of antibiotics will do to Linda. She changes into a whole new person. Boy that infection must have bugged her. She was the star of the group dinner. She was so energetic, alert and full of smiles and conversation (of course we have no idea what she is saying).

The dinner was very nice. I can’t remember half the things we ate. Jiangxi is known for their spicy foods. The first appetizer they put on the table was a real kicker. It gets right in your throat and burns. I think it was tofu.

Today we took a little walk with our friends Nancy, Paul and little Drew. We went over to Tiffany’s. It’s a very popular place to people that come to Jiangxi to pick up their daughters. It’s very close to the hotel and they have all the touristy things we want like squeaky shoes and dresses. They will also do your baby laundry for free. The really neat thing about this store is that they will look for your daughter’s finding ad and make it in a nice presentation to take home. A finding ad is the add the Chinese government puts in the province newspaper when they find a child to see if the birth family will claim them. So basically it’s the youngest picture you’re going to have of your child. The people there are real friendly. The older lady wanted to take Bill to breakfast. Bill could of had a hot date, but decided to stay with us ladies.

We wandered around a little after that. No special place, just something to get out. The sidewalks and streets are very hard to get around here. The sideways are limited and you don’t want to be in a street for too long. It’s like a game of chicken.

Linda is taking her afternoon nap. She is just amazing! She no longer screams when we come back in the room. She sits up and plays with her toys and is doing push ups. She kinda does this shuffle thing backwards on the bed. And, she is starting to get the gist of using a sippy cup.

Well that’s it for today. Tomorrow we should be going to a local village.

Oh those teeth and infections!

2006-09-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

Today was a very mild day. Our group went shopping at a local department store/grocery store for supplies. We picked up some things like socks, diapers and a couple of outfits that will fit her. Okay I’ll admit it… we broke down and bought a couple of toys.

Linda had a great time at the store. She loved all the music playing and all the attention she was getting from the locals. She also enjoyed climbing all over Bill since it was his day to wear the carrier. Sorry no pictures to show of this, my hands were too full.

Anyway, this morning I noticed that Linda was grabbing at her left ear quite a bit. Then I felt back there and sure enough, a swollen gland. Wow she takes after me. J Normally I don’t worry about those because I get them so often, but of course I’m a first-time mom and all the advisors have been talking about how kids here need antibiotics or it could get worse I decided to go ahead and have the doctor look at it. He was very nice and spoke good English. He works at the local children’s hospital. What did he say? It’s a swollen gland, don’t do anything. It’s being a policeman. It will cure itself in about 20 years. Go figure. Then he notice that lovely bump on her head (that the orphanage nurse said was a boil from the heat rash… don’t do anything) has a bacterial infection. He asked if we brought any antibiotics with us and I showed him what Dr. Dern prescribed and he was very impressed. Kudos to Dr. Dern. He also prescribed a local treatment for her bump.

We also noticed that she does this sucking thing with her tongue. Of course our first thought is that she is hungry. But, she doesn’t always want food (and trust me she is a good eater). We thought about it… she’s teething and doesn’t know how to put toys in mouth. Well when she had one of her fits today I got a good look in her mouth. I counted 6 have broken through and I think I see a molar coming in the back. Yikes! I’ll tell ya, she’s handling the teething pretty good if all those are coming in the way they are.

Well that’s it for now. We are going to a group dinner tonight.

And, here’s a lovely picture of Linda sleeping again!

Finalized in China

2006-09-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Okay we need to start this blog with Linda slept through the night. Wow is she a sound sleeper. Of course this is after crying her self silly about being in the hotel room with a couple of people she’s not sure about.

Today we “finalized” our adoption in China with a visit to the Jiangxi province Civil Affairs Office and the Jiangxi Province Notary. It is really not much to write about except for the fact that what happened today is it. We are the official parents of Linda! Well, of course we are, but we have the certificate to prove it. Now we wait for her passport and then the trip to Guangzhou for the Visa.

Linda likes going out. Be it in the hallway or the lobby. Outside is outside. You know, freedom! ;-) So as you can imagine Linda enjoyed the trip to the breakfast buffet this morning. She was watching everybody and everything. She is very alert. I even got a small bowl of congee to try on her. Why this is significant is at 9 months her main diet is a mixture of formula and rice cereal given to us by the orphanage. I figured what is the big difference. None! Mel ran upstairs to get a little spoon as the restaurant did not have any little spoons out. I take a little scoop, and would you know, Linda munched down on it like it was nothing. She was even biting the spoon with her little front teeth. Well, the big people were wrapping it up and Mel wanted to try some fruit. I could not find a banana, so we decided on a peach slice. Mashed up real good, we gave Linda a little bit. She ate it, but you should have seen the look on that little face. Eyebrows furled slightly and a little bit of a scrunched up nose saying, “Hey, that was pretty good, but it didn’t taste like anything I’ve had before. Do I like it or not?” Another little scoop and down it went. Again, the look. The conclusion is she liked it but is not sure about it.

After breakfast was the trip to the Civil Affairs office to do our “interview” and get a certificate of completion. Oh, wait, this is not school! We received our Certificate of Adoption! On it is our first official family photo.

Next was off the Notary office. The notary asked a couple of questions and it was all finalized.

A couple across the hall from us, Nancy and Paul (and daughter Drew) said they were going to the supermarket so we tagged along with them. We also decided to look for lunch. Of course once we could all make up our mind we wound up at that gourmet place, McDonalds. There now I can say I had a Big Mac in China.

Linda was tired from all her journeys after that so we laid low. We did manage to give Linda her first bath. She wasn’t thrilled… but she smells and looks a lot better.

That’s it for now.

Gotcha Day!

2006-09-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

9/18/06 Pre-Gotcha

After a really not so bad sleep, we woke up to Gotcha Day! It was an early start as our check-on luggage had to be outside our door at 6am. We took advantage of the early wake-up, along with all the others, to grab breakfast and discuss the excitement that is about to happen. We all seemed to be in that pre-gotcha daze. Unbelievable.

It is surreal. I write this, with Mel pacing behind, at 15.00 waiting in the hotel in Nanchang. It was a pleasant flight once again with a few bumps of turbulence. Some of us were reading, others were chatting. All in all it was your normal flight. Then the bus ride from the airport to the hotel. Meet here, be there. Do this and we’ll do that. Wow. Is this really going to happen? The butterflies are flittering and the nerves get a bit tighter. Are we ready?

Oh, yeah. It’s 15:00 now. Gotcha is at 16:00! OMG. OMG. OMG.

9/18/06 Post-Gotcha

16.20. We are waiting to get into the room. The babies were in there and we knew. We were then informed that we will be called individually to get our child. Our child. What a concept! It is still amazing. We were the 4^th to be called, and Linda was placed into Mel’s arms. Mel was tearing up, I was just awed. Happy just does not describe the feeling. Just freakin’ amazing. I knew this day was going to come.

Mel

got to hold Linda for a few minutes before I did, and both of us had the same experience. Linda did not cry at this time. Linda was more amazed at what was going on. You could see the fear growing in her little face. Blank stares began to take over the look of wonderment. I was now going to experience the beginnings of attachment. Mel also noticed this.

We headed up to the room as we only had a couple of hours before we had to return and do paperwork! Talk about moving the process! We were told the children were very hungry as it was a long trip for them to make. Linda began to shake a little. Cold? Scared? I placed my money on scared. She would not eat. She would be happy with Mel for a bit, then with me for a bit. This probably did not help much, but at the time it’s whatever makes her happy. Then the crying began. Crying and shaking, the poor thing was at her limit. I took her and began walking around. Out of the room and into the hallway. On my way out I asked Mel to give me a blanket. Linda snatched it immediately and I walked up and down the corridor. After a couple of trips she began to calm down, so I entered the room and sat down in a chair. Holding her, she fell asleep. (Yes! Score one for the new Dad!)

We had peace for about 15 minutes, and then she woke up. It did not take long for her to realize things have not changed and began to cry again. We tried to feed her again. No go. Again, back to the walking. I bit better, but still not good. We went for the Baby Bjorn carrier. Amazingly she was ok with it and we headed out the door. Whimpering and shaking we walked and headed down the elevator. In the lobby Linda calmed down a bit and started to look around. Outside we went. Linda was content once again. She was looking around and we had two Chinese people come up and look at her and give us a couple of big smiles. We headed back knowing we had a short time before the paperwork signing expedition. Linda started to whimper and shake again in the elevator. We got back to the room and she had settled down once again.

I sat on the floor while Mel was holding Linda on the bed. The little keys we had given Linda as her first toy seems to be doing a good job. The something caught our attention about the same time, and we got a bottle. Linda final decided to feed 10 minutes before the paperwork gathering! Nice timing, eh? Down she sucked that bottle. A bit too fast it appeared, as she decided to deliver a little bit of it back to us. We cleaned her up and took her downstairs.

At the paperwork signing, this is for the adoption registration within the province, I did the writing while Mel held and signed. I took breaks and soon discovered our little one is a wee bit ticklish. She broke a smile! OMG! It was amazing to see that and hear her giggle. Mel and I were so thrilled. By the end of the session, Linda was nodding a bit. Oh, she was so tired. You could see it in her eyes. We headed back to the room.

Mel gave Linda a quick sponge bath. Linda was fine and actually started to nod off. She was turning into that sack of potatoes. I took the handoff and began the drying process. I was christened with the first spontaneous pee attack! No major damage. We got her cleaned and dried. Once diapered, the little girl was lying there just about to get her jammies on when she passed out. Linda was dead tired. We dressed her up as she flopped around like a wet noodle. We put her to bed. (The “crib” or “bed” will be elaborated upon later, btw.) Asleep Linda is while I type this and Mel begins to doze off. Room service should be here shortly as we have not eaten since the airplane trip to Nanchang.

Pleasant dreams all! We had a very wonderful first few hours with our daughter Linda and cannot wait for more days and years to come. Tomorrow we got to the civil affairs office to get that adoption registration complete!

Orientation Day

2006-09-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up from a very long and well needed sleep. I’d say about 14 hours worth. After all that walking and the long plane flight, we needed some shut eye.

It was a fun filled day starting with a 9.00 orientation. Holt has this orientation to help the group better understand what we are to do and what to expect in the coming days. It was quite informative. The Holt leader, Les, did tease us with the fact they had more information about our children! He then proceeded with the orientation. (Details about the orientation for those interested will have to wait until we get home!) The exciting part was the child information.

We received a beautiful red book that has new photos of our child along with an updated itinerary. The latest scoop on Linda is that she is being treated for heat rash. Many of the babies were since the weather has been so hot in the province. The picture says it all. (This is a picture of a picture, so the quality is a bit low.) Linda has cream on her face and they CUT HER HAIR! Oh nooooooooooo! At least that will grow back! ;-) Of the babies from the same orphanage, Linda is the monster of the bunch. She looks very healthy and the report says she has had at least one cold and a fever. Sounds like a normal child to me. As for her size, she is bigger than a child that was born in April! They must be feeding her well.

After the orientation we had a very nice lunch with the group. It was a dim sum setup with the classic dishes; orange chicken, Kung pao shrimp, and a beef dish. Once we finished lunch and had a chance to prepare, we went on a group outing. First stop was Tiananmen Square. This place can hold 1 million people. Tourists from everywhere were visiting. We ran into two people walking together. He was from Switzerland, and she from Beijing. They first met in Australia.

We regrouped after about 20 minutes to head off to the Temple of Heaven. Originally build in 1492 the temple was burned down 3 times all by “natural causes” i.e. lightning. The temple is built without nails and no supporting internal structure. This was quite a beautiful building along with the surrounding park.

The day wrapped up with a nice dinner, our last alone (OMG!), before our big trip tomorrow. We meet Linda tomorrow approximately 16.00, which is Monday 1am PDT. We are so excited and a bundle of nerves. The next time you read we will be proud parents of Linda!

Good night!

Day One: The Trip to China

2006-09-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

The trip to Linda started with a fine trip to the airport. Bill Sr. and Ellen were the chauffeurs of the day. At the airport the lady at check-in was soooo polite. Somewhere in there we ended up showing her the picture of Linda. It turns out that it is the same as her mom’s name! Then I noticed the young lady’s name tag: Marci! Oh, well, an “I” for a “y” is ok with us. The next thing we know, she puts us on the standby list for the earlier flight from San Diego to LAX. Wow!

The flight over to Beijing was quite uneventful. Actually a very smooth flight. I actually slept a bit. Melissa slept on and off. The most she has ever slept on a plane before. The wacky part is eating at such odd hours; we had a dinner and a lunch! Where’s the breakfast? It was dark the whole trip. The only hint of daylight was when we were over Alaska where there was a slight glow on the horizon.

We arrived in Beijing this morning, Saturday, at 5:20am. Right on time. It is wacky being so tired and so excited at the same time. A 20 minute car ride from the airport to the hotel made for some interesting site seeing. We saw some old apartments and they are busy at work building new apartments. 13 million people live in Beijing!

At the hotel, the Peace Hotel located in the middle of downtown, is very nice. We are walking distance from the Forbidden City. There are tons of shops, too! Oh, that damned weight limit on domestic flights! Of course we spent a couple of hours walking around as our room was not ready. Yup, we walked on over to the Forbidden City. What a place. Unlike our western cities, there is so much history that you can see. At the same time you see them frantically working on the new, and with the ’08 Olympics just around the corner there is much cleanup.

Here’s the crazy part of today: It’s not even noon time yet! Oh, we will have so much to look at, and being so tired, who knows what more we will discover.

Later!

Child Update!!!

2006-09-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Days before we travel and what do we receive? An update! Unfortunately no pictures, but we do have an update on height and weight. Linda is now 70cm tall (long) and 9.2kg. This translates to 27.56in and 20.28lbs! She is right on target for a healthy little one. And the wild thing is the update says she has 5 teeth! I bet she bites.

We are so excited to travel that we get into little cat fights about stuff and quickly crack up laughing our a$$es off! Oh, this is going to be soooo fun.

Rollercoasters

2006-09-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hello All:

I tried posting a blog in the past, but when I read it to myself... I was falling asleep! Here's to a new beginning!

Bill and I started our journey to adopt Linda in January 2005 and boy has it been a rollercoaster. We had good days and bad days. I think the only thing that has kept us sane was our family and friends. When I say friends I mean past friends and new friends we have made on this journey.

I'm going to relate this rollercoaster ride to "The Revolution" at Magic Mountain. (Yes, it's been a looooooooong time since I've been there.)

We are now getting ready to go on our next rollercoaster ride "The Colossus". We leave soon to pick up Linda in the Jiangxi Provence in China. We are very excited and scared... a good scared but still scared! If all goes well you will be able to follow us on our journey (complete with pictures).

Well that's it for now. Bill and I will post again soon!

Melissa :-)